White Knight
by Digital Skitty
Summary: In the end, the dark knight got the princess and the dragons were overtaken by larger, more terrible dragons. Nine years later, a new cast of knights and princesses and dragons must try to finish what their predecessors couldn't.
1. The Nightmare Begins

_**Author's Note**_: This is a sequel to my previous novel, _Dark Knight_. I suggest you read it first, otherwise little to _nothing_ will make sense, simple as that. XD

_**Warnings**_: (mass) character death, blood, mutilation, swearing, (hints of) yaoi, (hints of) yuri, original characters, nudity (lol yes), deviations from the canon manga, possible spoilers for the canon manga, psychological trauma, references to outside things (obscure; to greek plays or myths; to present-day psychological problems; to japanese myths; etc.)

_**Disclaimer**_: I, Digital Skitty, do own a lot of these characters. But they were designed solely for the Naruto universe, which I don't own. They are also, in most cases, the children of canon Naruto characters, which Masashi Kishimoto created and own. I do not own any of the actual things from Naruto, nor do I own the character Daisuke, but I do own Seishirou, Hitomi, Tomozou, and several other main original characters. I hope I don't get sued for this.

And now, the story commences! (And you can't blame me for not warning you about anything now. XP)

-.-.-

_Once upon a time…_

**Arc One: Kirigakure**

-.-.-

"Can't catch me!"

Team 8 skated across the water, fast enough that their sensei was worried they'd fall, skid to a stop, break their necks and various other bones, and then finally drown. It seemed quite likely, especially considering how his two boys were zigzagging across the ocean's surface. Honestly, why had he taught them how to walk on water in the first place…?

_Because you live in Kiri, idiot, and it's a necessity. Would you rather have them drown?_ he asked himself. The man shook his head, and then continued at his leisurely pace behind his three students. They had been genin for half a year now. He should have a bit more faith in them all.

This mission had been simple, thank the gods. Head on over to one of the nearer islands, and take care of a few non-ninja thugs terrorizing a village. C-rank, really. And he had done most of the work… Miki and Seishirou had goofed off the entire time; Ryo was the only one who had helped at _all_, and that was on accident. One hell of a team he had here, that was for sure…

That was when Miki tripped. In her effort to catch up with the boys, a wave caught her toes and she went tumbling head over heels--right into Ryo. Both kids went under the water with much splashing. Seishirou skidded to a halt ahead of them, his grey eyes wide. The sensei just sighed, jogged over to where the two kids were splashing and flailing, and blew them back out of the water with a jutsu.

"And _that_ is why you don't go racing around like the little hellions you are."

Miki landed less-than-gracefully back on her feet, but Ryo just hit the water again and sunk like a rock, again. The man hauled him up by the upper arm, sighing as his student coughed all of the water out of his lungs. "Th-Thanks, sensei…"

"You're all idiots," Seishirou said. "Who trips on _water_, seriously? But at least Miki-chan landed on her feet. Ryo, you fell like a rock!" He then dissolved into laughter, holding his sides. "And now I'm the only one who's dry. It's called karma."

"Karma for what?" Miki demanded. Their sensei, however, sighed again; Seishirou was right. Now he was just as wet as the other two, thanks to all of the splashing and Ryo dripping on him. Lovely.

"I don't know. Screwing up the mission?" Ryo said, running a hand through his hair to try to get some of the water out. It didn't help much. Miki kicked the water in his direction, splashing him. Seishirou just laughed at them again.

Yup, one hell of a team he had. Soon, all three of them were splashing each other, and not even Seishirou was dry anymore. At least they weren't far from Kiri.

-.-.-

"And the princess who became a dragon found her prince again, and they lived happily ever after…the end." The woman closed the book, which was just a simple, leather-bound tome. It was a modified journal, where she wrote bedtime stories for her children. Most of them were based on true events, though hopefully the small girl and her older brother wouldn't ever figure that out.

"I don't see why the princess would become friends with the dragon, anyway." That was the boy's main remark about the story. Every time the woman told one about the princess--because, of course, not all of them were--he would complain about why on earth would a princess want to become friends with a lowly dragon who kidnapped her.

Hinata didn't quite think that the Stockholm Syndrome would be a suitable answer for a twelve-year-old, regardless of how mature he liked to act.

She sighed minutely, tilting her head to one side. _Sei is growing like a weed…Hitomi has grown so much, too, she's not going to be my little girl for much longer,_ she thought mournfully.

"Obviously, the princess was lonely and wanted a friend. The dragon seemed rather nice, anyway," the little girl in her lap said, with a small nod. "Mother, am I a princess?"

Hinata blinked, and looked down at her daughter. She smiled, petting her black hair affectionately. Hitomi gave a small huff, and her tiny hands hurried up to smooth the ruffled locks. She was always so fixated on how her hair looked. "I'd like to think you are, sweetie. Why?"

"I want a dragon," she said simply, as if having such a thing would solve all of her problems. Maybe it would. Hinata just gave her a little squeeze, and sat her down on her bed.

"I don't think you'd like to get kidnapped, Hitomi-chan. I hope you don't! I'd be terribly lonely without my little Hitomi-hime to keep me company!" She kissed Hitomi on the forehead, petting her again. Hitomi's hands fluttered up to fix her hair again.

Seishirou watched the bonding with a guarded look in his ringed eyes. Hinata glanced at him for a moment out of the corner of her eye, and then smiled at him. _I hope you'd be pleased with your son, Konan…He's a fine shinobi, at least,_ she thought, shaking her head to clear her mind of such silly, sad thoughts. She didn't even know why there was this sudden wave of nostalgia. Maybe it was Seishirou's last mission, his first C-rank. Or maybe it was Hitomi looking up at her with those innocent, big doe eyes of her, asking politely for her own dragon.

No doubt Deidara would love to come kidnap her and spirit her away, but Hinata didn't want the same dangerous lifestyle for her daughter. She was still in the academy, anyway. Hinata had been fifteen when she met up with Deidara. There was a large difference between that and a nine-year-old who, to her knowledge, hadn't even created her first _Bunshin_ yet.

Plus, Hitomi didn't even like the Byakugan. Hinata had never seen her daughter utilize it out of curiosity--unlike every Hyuuga she had known growing up--and had only wanted to learn the _Juuken_ style so she could learn taijutsu at an earlier age than her peers. True, she was good at the style, but she was probably just learning it to augment her basic training at the academy.

Hinata kissed Seishirou goodnight as well, ruffling his hair. He didn't mind it as much as his sister, though it was messy enough that it didn't even matter. He wore his hair down for bed, something Hinata had always been somewhat amused at. With it down, he looked a lot younger. (Which was why it was always tied back during the daytime.)

"Goodnight, you two, I love you."

"Yeah, love you, mama." Seishirou grumbled. He was always sour these days at being put to bed like a child, especially with Hitomi. Hinata shushed his complaints with 'even shinobi need their sleep'.

"I love you, too, mother." Hitomi replied formally.

Hinata was about to close the door, when the door downstairs opened. Seishirou was out of bed so fast she could have sworn he used a _Shunshin_, and even Hitomi sat bolt upright in bed. "I'm home," Neji called, his voice floating up the stairs over the sound of the front door being closed.

Hinata exhaled with a smile. Somehow, she always felt like she was holding her breath when he was away on missions. She had quit her profession as a kunoichi, since someone had to stay with the children, and Kirigakure paid extremely well, anyway. Without any of the other villages still functioning, Kiri could charge as much as they wanted for their missions. It wasn't as bad as it sounded; it meant all of the ninja families were quite well-off, even with only one or two working. And as a jounin, Neji made quite enough money for them to be comfortable.

But, of course, jounin always had the worst missions. Especially with all of the Bijuu still roaming the lands. So far, they hadn't bothered Kiri at all, but it didn't mean that the village wasn't prepared for the inevitable.

Hitomi sidled around her mother, standing in the doorway, and quietly padded downstairs.

Hinata followed her at a more sedate pace. As she came downstairs, she found Neji still standing in the doorway, a kid wrapped around each leg and sitting on his foot. Seishirou was telling him excitedly something about bedbugs, and Hitomi was just staring up at her father with a solemn expression.

"Hello," he said calmly. He looked incredibly tired, but he was smiling in something like disbelief from the sudden addition of the children to his feet. "I thought they'd be in bed by now."

"They were _supposed_ to be." Hinata gave them both a stern look, and the pair looked properly chastised. She walked over and extracted Seishirou by the back of his shirt, giving Hitomi a look that said if she didn't follow suit, the same would happen to her. The girl immediately let go. "How was the mission?"

He leaned down and gave her a peck on the cheek, before kicking off his shoes. "Tiring." There was something about the way that he said it that said it was more than that. Hinata shooed the children back upstairs, with many more threats of earlier bedtimes if they didn't go to sleep right away.

"What happened?" Hinata asked quietly, taking his hand and leading him into the kitchen. She pushed him down into one of the chairs, and set about to making tea.

"Two teammates died. One of them was Mizukage-sama's nephew." Neji mumbled, resting his head on his arms. "No, no tea tonight…I just want to follow the kids and go to bed."

"You'll have nightmares if you don't talk about it," she said wisely, still continuing preparing the tea. The water was already hot, and she poured it into a mug for him, pushing the glass in front of him. Neji looked at it dully.

"There's nothing to talk about, really…We just got ambushed by some rogue ninja. They seemed to know who we were, they went after Taichi immediately, I think they were going to capture him and ask for a ransom…" Gratefully, he placated her with a few sips of the tea. After a few moments, Hinata saying nothing, Neji said slyly, "Okay, kids, go to bed. Seriously now."

There was the pitter-patter of feet back up the stairs.

Hinata smiled. "I don't see how parents can cope without the Byakugan."

-.-.-

The next day, Seishirou didn't have a mission, but Hitomi had school. Which made for one very bored boy. His genin team all seemed to be busy with something or another, which meant he was basically confined to his house. His mother kept him busy enough, but of course he wouldn't want to spend the day doing _chores_, of all things.

So he decided to practice his jutsu.

Outside, his mother and father watched him idly, having their own conversation. Still, their white eyes were only on him. Seishirou first practiced a few taijutsu styles he'd picked up on his team, to warm up. And then he practiced several water jutsus, using a nearby pond as a water source.

But even that got boring very quickly. So he walked over to his parents, and asked, "Hey, can one of you spar with me?"

"I'm too tired, Seishirou," his father said with a wry smile. "I wouldn't make a very good sparring partner. Ask your mother."

She gave him a mild glare, and then shook her head. "Sorry, Sei-chan. I'm not a kunoichi anymore."

"Haven't gotten rusty, have you?" Her husband elbowed her in the side, eliciting a small squeak and a blush.

"N-No, of course not. I just don't see why--oh, fine, then." She stood up, brushing off the seat of her pants. She walked out to Seishirou, who was both amused and surprised that his father would back him up like this. "Alright, Sei-chan. Your move."

"Uh, okay then." He glanced sideways, almost for confirmation. Then he ducked low, and ran at her. But she easily sidestepped him, and he didn't even tag her hair, let alone her body. She smiled indulgently at him, and Seishirou just scowled back.

As if sensing his next question, she said, "You can go ahead and use whatever jutsus you want."

He didn't exactly want to hurt his own mom, but if she invited him…then who was he to say no? And there was this new jutsu he'd picked up from his sensei on his last mission that he'd just been _dying_ to try out on something.

He started sealing, and his mother just watched him with her white eyes. He never really understood why both of his parents--and Hitomi--had white eyes and dark hair and he didn't, but he never felt the need to question it. Though he couldn't see anything near their level, somehow, his own eyes gave him an edge. He just had yet to pinpoint how.

"_Katon: Gokakyuu no jutsu_!" He brought up two fingers to his mouth to help ignite the fire, and created a fair sized fireball that engulfed half of the small courtyard.

When the fire fizzled out, however, his mother had just come out of some sort of strange spinning jutsu, completely unharmed. She was staring at him with curiously wide eyes. "I didn't know you knew that jutsu, Sei-chan. I thought you only knew water jutsus…"

Seishirou had the odd feeling that he'd done something wrong, but as to what it might be, he had no idea. So instead, the ginger-haired genin shrugged. "All they ever taught us at the academy was water jutsus, and boring stuff like the _Kawarimi_ and stuff. But my sensei used a fire jutsu on our last mission, and he taught it to us on the way home." Sticking his chest out with a bit of pride, he added, "I was the only one who could do it by the time we reached the gates."

Somehow, that single jutsu concluded their sparring match. As he and his mother left, he also spotted his father watching him intently. As they walked back inside, he couldn't help but ask, "Mom…is it different that I can do two different types of jutsus?"

"Well…no…" She brushed a lock of her dark hair over her shoulder, once again reminding Seishirou of his own lighter hair, and chose her words carefully. "Most ninja can use a lot of different jutsus. But they seem to have a specialty that lies in only one element. Some shinobi don't have that specialty, and they can use all of the elemental jutsus with equal power, but that's somewhat…rare."

Suddenly, Seishirou thought he might have figured out what his weird eyes did for him.

That night, when Hitomi was helping their mother make dinner, he sat in front of the mirror in his room, staring at his ringed eyes. His vision was normal. And he didn't have the Byakugan. (Hitomi said it was weird, anyway, so he didn't want it.)

But somehow, these eyes of his saw jutsus, and he could use its element naturally. How did that even _work_?

They'd learned all about bloodline limits in their classes at the academy, and he could still recite most of them by memory. The Byakugan wasn't native to Kiri--it was native to some dead village that had been named Konoha. He could just barely remember moving into the village when he was three or four, so naturally they could have lived in Konoha first. Unfortunately, the school records didn't have much information on Konoha bloodline limits. He'd only known about the Byakugan because of his parents.

Somehow, he didn't have the courage to ask them about his own eyes. Or his own looks, for that matter. He had _orange hair_, for god's sake! And grey eyes. Hitomi was small with black hair and white eyes. She was like some sort of doll, and he was just…weird. He wondered if he was the bastard son of some other man, or if he'd been adopted somewhere along the line. And then he had to wonder who his _real_ parents--or just father, as the case may be--were.

Downstairs, the doorbell rang.

"Seishirou, could you get that?" his mother called from the kitchen. Seishirou trudged downstairs, stomping his feet as much as he could manage on solid wood floors. Thinking all those things had put him in a bad mood. If it wasn't his dad--well, the one he _thought_ was his real dad as of now--he didn't _want_ any visitors.

He practically threw open the door, glaring upward into the guest's face. There was a moment in which said guest registered that a twelve-year-old was glaring daggers at him, and then came what could only be recognition. "Shit. Holy hell, Jashin-sama save my fucking soul," the man said softly, staring quite obviously at him.

"Mom, there's a guy here, and he swears a lot!" he called over his shoulder, and then turned back to this foul-mouthed man. He had white hair and pink-ish eyes, probably an albino. Weren't those supposed to be blind? Just to check, Seishirou kicked the man in the shin.

"You little--" The man clutched his shin, and then made a grab for the kid. Definitely not blind, then. "I'll rip your damn leg off, you little shit--"

"There is no swearing in this household!" Seishirou's mother called from the kitchen. The not-blind albino perked up, rage temporarily forgotten. Seishirou took the opportunity that he didn't have to defend himself in to study the man more closely. He couldn't be older than his parents…were they friends? But he'd never seen this man around the village before. And who was Jashin?

He was dressed in a torn, dirty, dark traveling cloak, with a bag slung over one shoulder. Something that made the bottom bloody was in the bag. The genin winced reflexively. Then he noticed that the man seemed a bit…lopsided. One arm was hanging loosely at his side, but the other one was…

"That's your arm in there," Seishirou said stupidly, pointing to the bloody bag.

"No shit, asshole. Now are you gonna let me in? I need to talk to the bitch princess like, right this fucking minute. It's kinda urgent."

"I said _no swearing_--" At that point, his mother arrived. She still had a dishtowel in her hands and her apron on, but she dropped the former when she looked at their guest. Seishirou stepped aside, looking back and forth between the two adults curiously. Yup, they definitely knew each other. "…Hidan."

"I need a place to stay," he said simply. "Some shit happened and I have a feeling that you need to know."

-.-.-

Next Chapter: Hidan brings bad news. Kirigakure is put on alert, while everyone tries to find Sasori and Deidara...


	2. Open Secret

"Seishirou, go to bed."

"But--"

"_Right now_."

Hinata made sure the boy went all the way upstairs before letting Hidan in. Her mind was nothing but a blur. What was all of this about? Hidan, showing up out of nowhere, one-armed and missing Kakuzu. Not to mention the fact that he had probably just doubled Seishirou's vocabulary…

Hidan fell into the nearest chair, propping his feet up on the kitchen table. He dumped a bloody sack on the table, too, running a hand through his hair. Hinata couldn't say anything; she just sat down nervously opposite him. Neji was already asleep. Was this bad enough to wake him?

"So," the immortal said presently, jerking her out of her thoughts. "You're in Kiri now, huh? Took a damn long time to track you down, just so you know. Good job."

"R-Right, thank you," she replied automatically, without any thought.

Hidan sighed, and then dragged his feet off of the table, leaving a muddy smear. He then leaned forward on one elbow, brows drawn together. It was probably the most serious she'd ever seen him. Hinata took a quick mental inventory. Hidan was here. He was alive--but he couldn't die, so that was to be expected. His arm was off, but presumably he still had it, and the way the blood was still wet, he probably lost it recently. Which meant that he had to have lost Kakuzu before that. His uniform was in tatters and was only recognizable because she knew it had to have been the Akatsuki one. His hair had grown out a bit, too, and hung limply around his shoulders. Obviously he'd been on his own for some time, then.

"I lost Kakuzu. Some bitch ambushed us near the coast, and that was two full fucking weeks ago. I haven't seen either of the artist fags for years now, but I know you have. Where are they?"

"I haven't seen Deidara-kun or Sasori for nine years, Hidan."

It was almost comical how the blood drained from his face. Almost. Hinata could only swallow the lump in her throat, and try to figure out why Hidan would have come to her. For help in tracking down Kakuzu? Or taking out this lady who had ambushed them? Or…was it Bijuu-related?

"…the fuck am I supposed to do, then…" He buried his head in the crook of his arm, groaning.

"Hidan, what's going on?" She was mildly proud of the fact that her voice didn't shake. The next sentence, however, did. "Tell me what's going on."

"The Bijuu," he mumbled into his arm and the table.

Hinata's breath caught, and she pressed a hand to her heart to make sure it was still beating.

Hidan continued, though. "After we got separated, the Nibi came after me. I got away with only losing an arm. I came here--I thought you would…know where Deidara was. But you don't. You fucking don't. You have no damn idea what's going on out there, do you?!" He jumped to his feet, slamming his hand down on the table. His fuchsia eyes glinted in the light of the kitchen. "They are stalking us. Hunting us! Like fucking cattle or deer or I don't know! It's a _game_ to them. They want our bodies, like the stupid fucking Jinchuuriki and they're too strong.

"We don't stand a chance. Half the organization's already dead. Stone, cold, dead, Jashin-sama have mercy on their souls. They're taking us out at their leisure. We--We found Zetsu dead, a year ago. He was dead. Half of his fucking face was missing. Half his _head_--his white side--they tried to seal one of them into him and the half they couldn't control took matters into his own hands. And that's only _one fucking demon_ gone. There are eight more. How the hell are we supposed to do anything if we don't even know where the others are?!"

"Please…be quiet. You're going to wake the children."

"Fuck the children! Don't you know what this means, you ignorant little bitch? There are a maximum of four members of the Jashin-damned Akatsuki left, and those demons know that! They are going to come for anyone who had any connection to Amegakure, let alone the Akatsuki! They _have_ to know about you by now! And once they see that little brat, they'll take him, too, probably the other Hyuuga bastard, and they'll destroy the whole fucking village to get to you!" Hidan roared, and then slumped back down into his chair. He seemed spent. He absently picked up the pendant hanging from his neck, fingering it. "We're so fucked."

"Hidan…I know. I've known most of that all along," Hinata said quietly, her hair hiding her face from his view. "Deidara-kun and Sasori told us that nine years ago. That's why we came to Kirigakure--for protection. Almost all of the rest of the shinobi in the world are now in this village, and if it's only a single demon that attacks, I'm fairly certain we can defeat it. Even the Kyuubi."

"I figured as much…" He sighed, and didn't say anything for a moment. His eyes roamed the house, looking everywhere but at her. Finally, he said, "So you really can't contact the fag?"

"No. I mean, I could try, but I highly doubt it."

"Well then, we are _royally_ fucked. But at least we can see if your little village can stand up to a demon." Hinata didn't like where this was going. Hidan just grinned, and added, "'Cause I'm pretty sure the Nibi followed me here."

-.-.-

The Mizukage looked up as the door banged open. He'd just been ready to leave, too… A harried-looking chuunin burst into the room, followed by the Hyuuga woman and a man he'd never seen before. "Mizukage-sama…!!"

"What is it?" he asked, mildly perplexed. What was so urgent that it needed to keep him in the office for even longer? It was already past eleven…

"Hyuuga-san here has information--concerning--"

"Information concerning the Bijuu's movements. Particularly the Nibi," she took over in a business-like tone. "It is coming here--"

"Stop. You, calm down." The chuunin hung his head, a bit embarrassed at getting so worked up. "And you, what makes you say that? We have survived for well over a decade without any demon interference, so why now…?" _And who is this stranger?_ he also wanted to ask, but he had a feeling that it'd either be rude to ask or he'd know in due time.

"Because _he_ led it here." She jerked a thumb toward the stranger, the venom quite audible in her voice. "Complications arose, and he did do the smartest thing by coming here, but--"

"I'm sorry, I'm not following. Not that I'm doubting your story--" though in all honesty, he _was_ doubting it "--but who is he to warrant the attention of the Bijuu? Moreover, why would one actually_ follow_ him anywhere? Usually the demons kill, and don't waste the energy hunting down survivors."

"Because I'm fucking Akatsuki, asswipe!" the man snarled.

That would certainly explain a lot.

Hinata--the Mizukage recognized her now, she was Neji's wife--calmly (though coldly) explained the situation at hand. Neither she nor Hidan, the Akatsuki-nin, knew exactly when the Nibi would arrive, or even if it would. It was entirely possible that the demon lost his trail, or lost interest in the pursuit. But it was highly likely that Kiri would face it's first demon, nonetheless. An Akatsuki member would certainly attract that kind of attention.

The leader listened carefully, fingers steepled. He wasn't pleased. But he did agree, albeit hesitantly and after hearing the Akatsuki-nin's reasons, that it would have been the smartest thing to do to try to get rid of the demon easily. "But why would he come to you? You've lived here for quite some time, and you _aren't_ Akatsuki, are you…?" He said this with more than a hint of warning. The entire world wasn't too pleased with the Akatsuki and what they had brought upon said world, to say the very least.

Hinata shook her head, putting her fingers against her forehead. "No. I'm…My best friend was--is--an Akatsuki member. He thought I would be able to contact him easily. Which I can't. At all…"

"Why not?"

"He's stayed away from the village, precisely because he figured the demons would follow. He didn't want their attention focused here--to protect myself and my family."

Either that was some intense loyalty or there was something else to it. The Mizukage briefly debated whether or not pressing for more information, but he decided to have faith in the woman. She had been living here for awhile, and surely she wouldn't wish it destroyed. If it was crucial information, she would tell him.

"We…had Akatsuki connections," she admitted after a brief pause. The leader's eyebrows rose; he hadn't expected her to actually admit to something like this. Especially since she was actually _admitting_ it; it meant she really had more than a best friend in the organization. "If the Bijuu knew I was here, they would undoubtedly come after me, possibly the rest of my family as well, like they're hunting the remaining Akatsuki members."

So she definitely knew more than she let on. He sighed. He was getting too old for this… "I think you better tell me everything you know about the Bijuu right _now_."

-.-.-

The village was put on high alert. Civilians (at least, those that wished) and children were evacuated to a nearby deserted island that had been fortified with underground bunkers and several dozen seals and wards in case of such an emergency. Next to all missions were cancelled. All shinobi abroad were called back to the village. People were searched coming into the village, on the off chance that it was one of the demons, already having possessed a human body.

Hinata had tearfully said goodbye to both her children. Genin were only allowed to stay in the village if they had been ninja for over a year; luckily Seishirou didn't qualify. She would be worried sick about him if he had stayed. Of course, he was furious over that, but she just hugged him and kissed him and sent him away with the few jounin and older shinobi spared to protect the evacuees.

Two days after the first alert, there was still no sight of the Nibi. Of course, this didn't mean anything, save the fact that the entire village was tense. Hinata hated this feeling. It was just like the last war, when they were waiting for Konoha and Suna to attack. Or even the Konoha war… She just wasn't made for war. But even so, she reinstated herself as an active kunoichi. She was needed, she told herself.

Dawn on the third day, and Hinata was packing. Neji didn't want her to go, but the Mizukage agreed it would be a good idea. Hidan was indifferent; he was merely waiting for whether or not he'd get slaughtered or possessed. She had already sent several of her (or Deidara's, rather) clay birds out to try to find him, all of them with the same letter attached to their legs. But after three days with no reply, they couldn't wait. She had to at least make one trip, see if she could track them down herself. Neji objected; he wanted to go as well, if she was going; the Mizukage hadn't let him because he was needed at the village, in case of attack.

"Be careful," he told her.

"I always am."

"Except when you aren't."

"There's that." Hinata smiled warmly up at him, trying to ignore the feeling she had in the pit of her stomach. Neji just kissed her goodbye, and then she left.

She figured she would head for the mainland first, and scan the coast, to see if she'd get lucky. After that…she didn't quite know. It was a desperate plan, but it was the only one they had besides waiting. Moreover, she might be able to see if the Nibi was en route to Kiri.

-.-.-

"This is boring," Nekomata said blandly, sighing. The excess of chakra in the already dry air created by the exhale caused several of the nearest trees to wither. Behind her, she left a trail of scorched earth, the heat from her body sapping the dirt of all of its moisture. Since coming so close to capturing her human, she hadn't seen him again. It was depressing. Not that she wanted that human--oh no. She wanted a female body again. She had lucked out last time with that Yugito girl, but this time, she wasn't taking any chances. Though an immortal body would be pleasant…

The Nibi waved her tails behind her angrily. She continued making her way languidly towards Kirigakure, following the trail that Akatsuki member left. He certainly hadn't been trying to hide it, that was for sure…probably too worried about losing an arm to worry about anything else. Humans were silly like that, she supposed.

At least she was finally getting closer to the village. It was about time _someone_ put the city in its place. How had it escaped this long without someone taking care of it? …Probably just laziness on their part. Oh well. That would soon be rectified.

A shadow passed overhead, but she just dismissed it as a bird. They had birds around here, didn't they? She hadn't ever been this far south, truth be told…

And then, Nekomata promptly reached the coast.

"…" The fiery feline could only blink. "…Aarrgh! There's nothing but _water_ here!"

-.-.-

"When I see her again, I'm giving her a lesson in coding," Sasori said irritably. "I mean, what the hell--"

"Oh, shut up," Deidara replied, rolling his eyes. "It's urgent, yeah, like it says. She probably didn't have a whole lot of time to spare. She didn't want to waste time getting a proper code or waste our times for the decoding, yeah. Duh, danna."

"If it's that important, all the more reason to code it properly!" he argued, huffing. "And it's wasting our time anyway, with this stupid side trip…"

"Come on. I thought it was kind of a cute code." He grinned, waving the tiny piece of paper in the air. "Plus it's kind of an open secret, the fairytale. This way, those that needed to know could read this if need be. Pretty smart if you ask me, yeah."

"No one asked you, and yet you gave your opinion nonetheless," Sasori deadpanned. "But there's not even enough to go on. Like you just said--it was an open secret. _Anyone_ could have written it."

"Nah. I know Bya-chan's handwriting."

"Which can be copied easily with the Sharingan or several jutsus."

"There's only one Sharingan user left alive, and he sure as hell doesn't know anything about that fairytale, yeah." Deidara _really_ doubted that this letter had come from Sasuke, anyway. "Plus, it was attached to a _clay bird_."

"Here's a hypothetical situation for you, Deidara. Say someone _somehow_ knows about that fairytale of yours. Then it stands to reason they know Hinata, too, correct?"

Deidara nodded warily, unsure of where this was going.

Sasori continued, "Then if they know her, it would only take a simple jutsu and one look at her handwriting--easily obtained--to forge that paper."

"But--"

"_And_ it _also_ stands to reason that if they know her, and of the fairytale, they would know your connection to her. Then it's a simple mental hop to figuring out that she would either know your jutsus or have a few samples. And what do shinobi excel at?"

"Being assholes?" he guessed.

He hit him on the head, scowling. "Thieving. Killing. Someone could have broken into her house, killed her, forged that letter, and used one of her _many_ birds to send it."

"But they wouldn't know the sign--"

"Like I said, Deidara, they would at the very least know of your connection. Most likely this same hypothetical person would have at least seen you _once_ and you use the _same seal_ with every version of those flying pieces of mud, so it wouldn't be hard to replicate. And if that fails--guess."

"And it could detonate, yeah," Deidara snapped. "It's a lot easier to blow them up than to give them life, Sasori-danna."

"There were plenty of sculptures there." Sasori waved him off. "All it'd take is trial and error."

"Except she's in _Kirigakure_, yeah. I think someone would notice a few explosions there."

"But, keeping with that same hypothetical situation," the Suna-nin persisted, undeterred, "If it was a Bijuu? Possessed her body, used her handwriting, and slaughtered half the village beforehand. I doubt someone would object to a few explosions _then_."

"Except you said so yourself," Deidara pointed out in a low voice, frowning. "You said 'when we see her again, I'm giving her a lesson in coding', yeah. You know it's her as well as I do."

"That's beside the point."

"You're an idiot, danna." The blonde couldn't help but grin, and reached over to ruffle his partner's already messy hair. Mostly because Sasori hated when he did that. "Can't you ever take anything at face value?"

"No. It's unhealthy and impractical."

-.-.-

Next Chapter: Two weeks into the lockdown, the kids have had it! Sei stages a break-out, just as the Nibi figures out a way to cross the ocean. Kirigakure goes up in flames...


	3. Mist Under Attack

"This is crap," Seishirou groaned, pulling at his hair. "No--This is utter shit."

"Mother does not like you swearing," Hitomi said reproachfully. Seishirou glanced at her with an air of discovery, as if surprised to find his little sister hovering by his elbow, like she had been for the past two weeks. He shrugged off the reprimand, however, and just continued pulling at his hair. It had fallen out of its ponytail, the holder hanging from his wrist like a bracelet right then.

"Two weeks. _Two weeks_. And we don't even know what's going on!" he exclaimed, giving the ginger locks one last tug before throwing his hands up in the air. On his other side, Miki rubbed his shoulder comfortingly.

"It'll be okay, Sei-kun. It's just a drill. Remember, we had that one when we were in the academy? Just like that."

"It's not a drill and you know it," he hissed, narrowing ringed eyes at his teammate. She recoiled as though slapped. Seishirou frowned guiltily, and then tried, "I'm sorry--"

"No, you're…you're right," Miki said with a forced smile. She once again swapped sides in favor of her teammate. It was a bad habit of hers, and while Seishirou usually found it annoying, now he couldn't help but be grateful. Even if it was a sad kind of grateful. "I'm just being a baby about the whole thing. We should be prepared for the worst, right? And plus you said that Akatsuki guy said that the demon was chasing him…"

"Yeah, but…" You'd think that demons were faster. It had been two weeks, after all.

"You're all being whiny little kittens," Kisho said, pausing in his bath. He had been put in charge of the three of them, in lieu of their sensei, and wasn't exactly pleased with this job. "At least you haven't had to baby-sit a bunch of whiny little kittens for the past two weeks like I have. You have that to be thankful for."

"Yeah, we just had to put up with a total information blackout and your whining tail," Ryo replied. Without their sensei, the kids couldn't stop picking fights. At least it wasn't with each other anymore. That thrill had worn off in the first few hours. "Look, everyone is asleep, we can just go above ground for a few minutes and see if the village is on fire or something. That way we'll at least know whether or not we're being attacked right now…"

Seishirou and Miki were already climbing up the ladder towards one of the exits, Hitomi following them at a more sedate pace. Ryo spared a grin for the cat before trotting off to follow them.

Kisho jumped up after them, hissing and frizzing his tail. "You brats are going to be in a lot of trouble! What if you idiots lead the Bijuu to this safe house? Huh? Ever think of that?!" It was the cat's job to keep on them and be annoying, evidently.

"Do you really think they're gonna care about a bunch of kids?" Seishirou called back over his shoulder, grinning evilly. The cat visibly bit his tongue, and Seishirou could only spare a moment to think of what he could have possibly stopped himself from saying. Would he have said something to contradict him...? That would have been something. Why _would_ the Bijuu care about a bunch of kids? But all of that was forgotten when they reached the trapdoor leading back out into the world.

Outside, the air seemed _fresh_. Of course, after spending two weeks underground with recycled air and fluorescent lights, everything outside seemed fresh.

The sky overhead was gray, threatening rain; this was lucky for them, since if it was sunny, they probably all would have been blinded for at least five or so minutes. Ninja or not, they had been underground for _two weeks_ with nothing but artificial light. The human body can only adjust so quickly. The trees covering the trapdoor also gave them some shelter from the outside world, thankfully. Even Kisho was blinking and rubbing at his eyes when he first jumped out onto the soil.

"See? There's no demons…" the cat said irritably, growling.

"We're facing the wrong way," Miki pointed out, putting her hands on her hips. She nudged Kisho over until he was facing the opposite direction, the village of Kiri just visible on the horizon.

"And I still see no giant, multi-tailed demons wreaking havoc," he said wryly. "No smoke, no flames, nothing to worry your tails about. Now get back inside before someone notices you were gone."

"As if they would." Seishirou rolled his eyes. "Obaa-chan was asleep. _Everyone_ was asleep, or off on their own. There's nothing else to _do_ down there…" True, the first few days had been spent excitedly exploring the labyrinthine mess of corridors and bunkers, but even that had worn off. Now, only the little kids (Hitomi exempt, of course) continued to go exploring or play hide-and-seek. The elderly just sat around and slept, or occasionally told a few stories. Bo-ring. What were three genin supposed to do to entertain themselves, huh?

"Get back inside."

"You're not the boss of us, cat," Ryo said flatly, taking a few steps out of the range of 'immediate bolting back to the trapdoor should a Bijuu suddenly appear'. Seishirou, his sister and Miki all stayed inside that range, shuffling their feet nervously. Ryo looked at the far-off Kirigakure, eyes lidded. "…Sensei's back there. Waiting for the Bijuu."

"Without us." Miki walked up shyly behind him, scuffling her sandal in the grass. "Our parents, too..." she said softly. Ryo grunted; he didn't have any parents he lived with.

"Yeah, without us…" Seishirou echoed, looking down as his sister gently took hold of his hand.

-.-.-

"So you'll _really_ give me the immortal one?" Isonade asked suspiciously. Nekomata couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"_Yes_, I will. I promise," she replied with a sharp smile. While it would have been exceedingly easy to trick her brother, she decided that it really wouldn't matter what body he got. As long as she got her pick. "Besides, I've decided I don't want a male body. I really do appreciate the female ones. And what better place to pick up a female body than in Kiri?"

"What about that one female that's been haunting the coast…?" the Sanbi asked.

"Psh." The cat demon rolled her eyes, snorting. "She's just a wanna-be kunoichi."

"You're just saying that because you can't find her."

"…" It was technically true. The Nibi would have very much liked to get her claws into the kunoichi that was wreaking such havoc on the eastern coast, but try as she might, she just couldn't find the damn woman. It was like she could vanish off the face of the world when she chose. So instead, Nekomata was turning her sights elsewhere. Kiri was bound to have a lot of strong, female jounin, right?

It probably looked bizarre. The Nibi was sitting on the least amount of fur she could manage, perched upon the Sanbi's back as he gave her a ride to Kirigakure. (Because she was _not_ getting wet. Forget the Akatsuki if that was the price.) Luckily, her brother had been in the vicinity, and she had offered to let him have the immortal Akatsuki-nin in return for the ride. In her eyes, it was a fair deal. She wasn't really going to use the immortal one, anyway. But it still got him out of the claws of the Hachibi or Kyuubi. Perfect.

"Do you want any help once we get there?" Isonade grumbled, raising his head up out of the water to fix a dark eye on her.

"You can relax in the water if you like. It's _only_ a village," she sighed, flicking her two tails. Or rather, one and a half--the Akatsuki-nin with the large sword had cut off the tip in that last Akatsuki fight, however many years ago it had been. And while she hadn't gotten the joy of killing the man herself, at least he was still dead. That was a plus. But try as she might, she just couldn't regrow that one tail completely. Pure chakra she might be, but even the fiery feline couldn't fully regenerate tails.

And, like all of the Bijuu, her power was in her tails. So her strength had taken quite a dip from that severing. The kinder Bijuu had gotten into the habit of babying her for it--she had already been one of the weaker members, and that had only made it worse--while the crueler ones ridiculed her for it. But the Nibi was _still definitely_ strong enough to burn down a village.

"…You can pick off the stragglers in the water if you like, though," she said carefully. At least Isonade could help her that way, without getting in her way. Because water and fire did _not_ mix. And it wouldn't hurt to guard her retreat if she so needed. She may be haughty and confident, but she wasn't overconfident. There was a chance, if Akatsuki-nin were involved, that this situation could get messy. Isonade could be her back-up, if such a situation arose.

As night fell over the land, the Bijuu were in sight of Kirigakure. The last shinobi hidden village. Nekomata narrowed her slanted eyes, grinning.

-.-.-

Kisho was losing patience.

Okay, that was a lie.

He had lost his patience several _hours_ ago. But what was a cat to do? His ninjutsu knowledge was painfully limited, and he wasn't even knee-high to the stupid children. And they were shinobi, anyway. Most of the time they could outrun him.

"Get back inside!" he yowled, his voice hoarse.

"Screw you," Ryo replied. The genin and sole academy student were playing hide-and-seek in the forest on the little island. True, they didn't venture _too_ far from the trap door, but they were still outside! And had been for the last four hours. Apparently this trip had only energized them. They weren't going back in any time soon, that was for sure.

"What if someone sees you? You _know_ that they send over jounin to check on this place and bring supplies." Kisho tried logic. Maybe that would work.

…And maybe fish would start jumping out of the water into his waiting mouth.

"Yeah, right. They only do that every couple of days, and we just saw my mom yesterday," Miki replied with a grin. Each supply run brought a different jounin, most of them parents of the children hidden in the safe house. Yesterday, as she said, had been Miki's mother. Seishirou was just a bit miffed that it hadn't been either of his parents--or even their sensei.

Kisho padded over to the water's edge. It had been roughly an hour since he last fished; maybe the stupid animals would have returned by now. He needed a snack--distraction--anyway. The cat crouched down in the sand, perfectly still, save for his twitching tail. There was a rather large fish just a few feet away, seemingly unaware of his presence…

"I found you, Seishirou," Hitomi said flatly. She pointed down from the tree she was in at her brother, her other hand placed carefully on the trunk's bark for stabilizing. The ginger-haired genin stood up, sighing. She was _purposely_ seeking him out…probably because she was scared of Miki and Ryo. True, the rest of his genin squad had met her several times, and it wasn't as if they were mean to her, but she rarely felt comfortable around others. And he had a sneaking suspicion she had a crush on Ryo…

"Right," he groaned, stretching. That bush had hurt his back with its thorns. Hopefully there were no open wounds to get infected. "I'm it, guys!"

"Again?" Miki peered down from her hiding place, actually just a few feet away from Hitomi. Seishirou laughed. It seemed that even with the Byakugan, Hitomi still had quite a lot of learning to do. Of course, she was only halfway through her second year in the academy…but still. He was a genin; he expected the same level of skill from others.

"One, two, three, four--"

A roar rent the evening air.

All four kids jumped--Ryo, who had been just about to jump into another tree, slipped and fell onto the ground below. This time, not even Seishirou laughed at him. The genin didn't say anything, but Seishirou reached over and grabbed Hitomi. She didn't protest.

Another roar finally sounded, but this time they didn't jump.

It was coming from Kirigakure's direction.

"Kisho!"

"I told you, _I told you stupid kittens_!" The cat came running towards them, tail held high in the air. He was speaking around a rather large fish in his mouth. Blood dripped down his bottom jaw, and his eyes were large and wild. "Get back down there, _now_!"

Ignoring the summoned cat, Ryo turned and bolted for the shore. Seishirou, who had actually been about to listen to Kisho, saw his teammate and just pushed Hitomi in the general direction of the trapdoor before turning and chasing him. Miki was after the boys in a flash, until just Hitomi stood in the clearing with Kisho and his fish.

"Get back here!" Kisho shouted after them, finally dropping his catch on the grass. Hitomi, too, ignored him and walked sedately towards the beach. Kisho hissed at her, before running after his charges.

Ryo brushed black hair out of his eyes, already unnaturally wide. Okay, so he was seeing what he thought he was seeing. Kirigakure, on the horizon. And a large, unmistakably cat-shaped silhouette was slinking towards it. There was also some odd mound in the water behind it, which appeared to have a head.

The village's sirens went off.

"What…oh my…god…" Seishirou trailed off, taking in the sight with mouth agape. Miki ran up behind them a moment later, and only offered a high squeak. "…The demons…"

The kids watched in morbid fascination as the cat-Bijuu set the village walls aflame. The demon then went on to jump over the burning walls and started breathing fire over as much of the village as it could. Already the Kiri forces jumped into action, though they were hardly visible because of the twilight and distance. Water jutsus sprang up everywhere, drawing from the sea around them, putting out the village. The cat-Bijuu yowled.

"Come on! We have to help!" Ryo exclaimed, jarring the others out of their thoughts. The two genin turned to him incredulously. "Don't look at me like that. We have to help!"

"Why? We--We can't do anything. We're only genin," Miki said desperately, frowning.

"I am not even a genin," Hitomi added.

"You're not going anywhere, anyway," Seishirou said firmly, shoving her back towards the trapdoor. The younger girl just stumbled forward a few steps, and then turned right back around to continue listening to the conversation.

"Exactly! We're genin." Ryo planted his fists on his hips, puffing out his chest. "We have all of the basic shinobi training. We've even completed a C-rank mission. We're _not_ idiots. I'm not saying we go take down the Bijuu ourselves…just…there are civilians that stayed behind. We can help them, right?"

"And…And we could help get the injured away…" Miki said uncertainly. For being so against the idea, now she was thinking about it quite seriously. Seishirou looked back and forth between his teammates, unable to see _how_ they could think of going to help like that.

"That'd be suicide!" he exclaimed darkly.

"Why? As long as we stay away from the cat itself, I think we can outrun a few fires. What if there are people trapped in those houses that are burning? We could be saving lives!"

"You guys have obviously never seen a forest fire, have you?" Seishirou asked shrewdly. "It can travel _fast_. Humor me here--what happens if _we're_ the ones who get trapped? If we can even get out, then it'd be because a jounin or chuunin fished us out, and that'd be wasting their valuable time."

"You're underestimating our team," Ryo snapped. "What happened to the Sei that _I_ know? He wouldn't balk at this. He'd rush right on in."

"I'm not balking, I'm thinking!"

"We'll be _careful_, idiot! Like I said, we don't have to be heroes or anything! Just lend some basic support." Ryo rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. "Come _on_, Sei."

"He's…right, Sei-kun," Miki agreed softly. "We don't have to be heroes. We can just _help_."

"If you guys want to help, why don't you see what's right in front of you?!" Kisho finally caught up with them, it seemed. He was panting and his fur was standing on end, but at least he had caught up. "You guys are right--you are trained in the basics of being a ninja. So why not help all of the civilians and children and old people that are _here_?"

"They're fine," Seishirou said automatically. With someone else arguing, now he wasn't so solid on his own side… Miki must be rubbing off on him. "There's no _way_ the Bijuu can get to here. And even if they do--why would they? Like you said, just a bunch of civilians and children and old people."

Kisho shook his head emphatically. "You kittens haven't _seen_ the Bijuu. I have. They enjoy slaughter like a sport, more than any shinobi I know. And I've known quite a few."

"When have you seen the Bijuu, huh?" Ryo asked critically. "You're a _cat_. Just summoned by Sei's parents to keep an eye on them. And aren't cat years like dog years…?"

Something clicked in Seishirou's mind at Ryo's words. "No--wait. …Kisho _wasn't_ summoned by my parents. Either of them. They're not summoners."

Hitomi looked up, suddenly catching on as well. "Mother forbade us from ever dispelling the jutsu holding him here…because she couldn't summon him back. He does not belong to us."

Ryo grinned evilly, and crouched down beside Kisho. "So, kitty cat, you say you know something about the Bijuu? Spit it out."

"Err." Kisho laid his ears back against his head, looking away. "I just…saw some Bijuu attacks."

"Where? Kiri's never been attacked."

"We moved here when I was three," Seishirou said suddenly. "Kisho, where did we live before?"

Now the three genin were all crowding the cat eagerly for some answers. The grey and black feline wasn't pleased with this. He wasn't known for holding his tongue under pressure, after all. Even Ryo and Miki knew that; Seishirou usually got any surprises out of the cat that his parents dared share with him. He hadn't been surprised for a birthday since he was seven. "Up--Up north. No village."

"So then _where_ would you have possibly seen a village destroyed? You were here in Kiri for the past…nine years," Miki said accusingly, narrowing her hazel eyes. "The Bijuu have only been around for twelve years; before that, they were contained in their Jinchuuriki and scattered."

"Where did you live before? 'Up north' doesn't cut it, cat. In Kumogakure? Iwagakure?" Ryo pressed, grabbing Kisho by the scruff of the neck.

"No--up north. They didn't live in a ninja village. Safer that way," Kisho meowed plaintively, squirming in the black-haired genin's grasp. "They--we--fled. A village as it was being attacked by the Bijuu. They only lived up north for three years--"

Miki was the history buff of the group. She knew _everything_ about history, granted from a certain point (the first Great Shinobi War). But this definitely was in her knowledge. "Twelve years ago…the only village to be attacked was Amegakure. Konohagakure was destroyed first, but it wasn't by the Bijuu, really. You came from Amegakure…!"

Hitomi narrowed her white eyes, the first visible expression she allowed herself to have thus far. "…The Akatsuki was housed in Amegakure."

Kisho would have been sweating buckets right then. If he wasn't a cat, of course. "Yes--okay? We lived in Amegakure before!" It wouldn't hurt to admit to that…right? There were worse things he could divulge, though. Thankfully the eradication of most of the shinobi villages left the information lacking about the Akatsuki and the Bijuu attack. Primarily, it meant the destruction of all photos of the Akatsuki. (Save Kisame, but even those photographs were of his pre-Akatsuki days.) Hinata probably owned the only surviving photographs of any of the Akatsuki members. And right now, even those were burning. So there was no way that the kids would know what they just stumbled onto. They couldn't guess the Akatsuki connections…There was no way…No way…

"So who summoned you?" Ryo asked solemnly. "Who would summon a cat, give it to someone else, and then let that cat live with them for the next twelve years? Unless--that someone died, and the cat chose to stay with them. Which is it?"

"My original owner died."

"Who was he?"

"You wouldn't know him," Kisho hissed. He swiped at him with his claws, but missed as the genin held him out at arm's length. "Let me go, now!"

"I'm not stupid, cat!" Ryo snarled. "You lived in Amegakure before. You left as the Bijuu destroyed it. You claim your original owner died. And _somehow_ an Akatsuki member shows up all this time later, and knows Sei's parents."

Seishirou shook his head, trying to clear it. Something…Akatsuki. It rang a bell, and not just from that albino man. He could dimly remember moving to Kirigakure, and someone had helped them…He remembered long, blonde hair and Akatsuki uniforms. _…Do we have Akatsuki connections?_ he asked himself. He didn't know whether to be elated or horrified at the thought. _Wait--does that mean the Bijuu are after my parents?!_

"Come on!" Seishirou jumped to his feet, and tore down the beach, kicking up sand behind him. "Who cares about that stupid cat? We have to go help!!"

"That was a sudden change of heart." But Miki stood up as well, and pranced after him, much more mindful of getting sand in her sandals. It wouldn't do to be unable to walk. Ryo also stood up and dropped Kisho at his feet.

"Wait!" the cat cried desperately. This was spiraling out of control, but he couldn't do anything about it. _What_ had Hinata expected him to do with the kids, besides yowling at them for getting in trouble?!

"Why?" Seishirou shouted over his shoulder. He stopped, however, when he saw Hitomi jogging after them. "Hitomi-chan, _no_. You're staying here."

"Mother told us to stay together," the little girl replied placidly.

Miki also halted, making shooing gestures towards her. "I doubt that's what your mother meant, Hitomi-chan. Go back and stay with Kisho."

"I am staying with Seishirou," Hitomi said firmly. She grabbed her brother's hand in a surprisingly strong grasp, and refused to let go. He tried to shake her off, but to no avail.

"You can't even walk on water! You couldn't come if you tried!" he growled, trying to dislodge her from his hand. Miki had to join in, trying to pull them apart, but even that wouldn't do it. For an academy student, she could hold her ground when it came to keeping a grip on something.

Ryo solved the problem simply. He walked over and picked Hitomi up. She was so surprised that she let go immediately. He threw the kimono-clad academy student over his shoulder and walked out to the water's edge, carefully stepping on it to make sure he could handle the added weight. "Come on!"

"You're not taking my sister!" Seishirou cried indignantly, a bit peeved that he couldn't take care of the situation himself. (Well, more than a bit peeved, but somehow his sister still paled in comparison to other matters at hand.)

"We'll just put her with the first person we find."

"You will do no such thing," Hitomi replied. Her face was a brilliant shade of red, but somehow she managed to say it seriously. "I am staying with Seishirou."

"Be quiet," Ryo commanded. She obediently closed her mouth. "Now come on; she's getting heavy. Do you want to help or not?"

Seishirou appeared torn for a moment. After all, could he knowingly bring his little sister into more danger? But it only lasted a brief moment. Then the genin pushed his ponytail over one shoulder, and raced out onto the water to join his teammate.

Kisho remained on the shore. He may have been a ninja cat, but walking on water wasn't in his repertoire. The cat paced back and forth for a few minutes, watching his wards run off towards the burning village, before sighing and trying his hand at a jutsu he hadn't attempted for some time. After awkwardly forming the signs with his paws, he just shouted, "_Shunshin no jutsu_!" and disappeared with a puff of smoke.

-.-.-

Hinata returned to a burning Kirigakure.

"Oh shit!" Deidara cried behind her, over the roar of the flames and demon. He leaned far over the clay bird, nearly perpendicular to it's neck. It was a wonder he didn't fall. "Did you leave it like this?"

"No!" she said immediately, shocked that he would think such a thing.

The bird landed before a charred section of village wall. Seeing all of the burning buildings brought back memories of the Ame war, and Deidara knew it wasn't just him reliving that war suddenly. Hopefully it would end the same way, with the Akatsuki coming in to save their lives. Of course, Hinata only had three members to count on this time…

Sasori, predictably, was the first one off the bird. At least some things don't change. "Where did you say Hidan was?"

"He--He would have moved by now!" Hinata replied. Only half of it was hope. "I don't know where he would be!"

"At least it's only the Nibi, yeah," Deidara said with a fake grin. Hinata couldn't help but glare at him for his flippancy, even if it was reassuring. But they didn't need cheerfulness and laughing right now--they needed some high-level bombs and a savior or two.

Then, they heard a roar behind them, from the water.

The three ninja turned, just as a giant, blunt paw came towards them. It batted Sasori into the air, but the redhead caught himself with a hastily summoned Kazekage puppet. Deidara pulled a miniature Karura out of his uniform, but Hinata pulled his arm back. "You'll only kill yourself!" she cried fearfully.

"No I won't!" Deidara replied, but she was still pulling him back towards the village walls. Sasori had landed on top of the wall, iron sand falling like rain around him as he lashed out at the giant paw with it.

The paw belonged to the Sanbi. The turtle was crawling up onto the shore, albeit sluggishly. It roared unintelligibly again, trying to force the Suna-nin off of the wall. "Go!" he shouted own at them, blocking the blow with a wall of black sand. "I can handle the Sanbi--go stop the Nibi from capturing Hidan!"

"But--" Deidara was cut off when he was pulled inside the village gates by Hinata.

Sasori grinned demonically, a habit he'd picked up from Deidara. With one hand controlling the Sandaime, he pulled another scroll out of his tattered uniform. Hiruko wouldn't do much in this fight, but that's not who he was thinking of. Because he had caught sight of one crucial thing--the Sanbi's lower half was still submerged in water. And seawater conducted electricity excellently.

-.-.-

"This way!" Hinata urgently pulled Deidara by the arm through the burning city. Shinobi were running around frantically, putting out the flames and shooting random jutsus at the fiery cat that towered above them. The Bijuu was currently pinned in one spot, on the other side of the village, thankfully. It didn't need to spot the two Akatsuki members right off the bat like the Sanbi had.

"Where are we going?" Deidara shouted.

"I don't know!"

She had to find Hidan. Or Neji. Even the Mizukage would do. But she had to find _someone_. It was vital that she found someone soon who knew what was going on. Most of the situation seemed obvious, but one could never be sure... Otherwise she would have gotten Deidara and Sasori for no reason other than to let the Nibi and Sanbi know where they were.

Unless… Unless they fought the two demons and somehow _won_. Now would probably be their best bet. After all, there were three Akatsuki members and a Kage somewhere in the village. If they ever wanted to exterminate two of the demons, now would probably be the best chance they ever got. The Akatsuki had performed miracles before--why not now?

Hinata skidded to a halt, dropping Deidara's arm. So she had a choice to make. Waste time and track down Hidan or someone who would know where he was, or just attack now and hope they joined in the fight?

"What are we doing?" he asked breathlessly.

"I… Come on!" Hinata turned and pulled him towards the Nibi.

-.-.-

"Kisho?!" The three (and a half) genin were stopped on Kiri's shore by the grey cat they thought they'd left behind. It had been an exhausting trek; it was long, and they still hadn't perfected the water-walking technique, so they probably expended more chakra than what was strictly necessary.

"Go back, _right now_," Kisho growled, fur bristling.

"I really doubt we could," Miki said with a tight smile. She was already sweating and panting, just from that simple water walk. "We've already said this--we're not trying to be heroes. We just want to help the injured and the civilians that had stayed behind. My mother taught me a few healing jutsus--"

Kisho shook his head. "You'll only get yourselves killed! What would your mother think about _that_?"

Ryo sighed heavily, and just sidestepped the cat. He was bitten on the leg for his troubles. He shook his leg, but Kisho held on with a surprising ferocity. "Ouch! Look--I just want to set Hitomi-san down! She is heavy, okay?!" Kisho reluctantly let go of him and spat out a mouthful of blood and fabric. Ryo set the little girl down, rolling his shoulder to make sure it was still working.

"But the point remains, Kisho. We can't go back." Seishirou pulled Hitomi to him, putting his arms around her protectively. "We'll stay out of the way, we promise." His teammates and sister all nodded their agreement.

The cat couldn't see any way out of this. Not without Hinata or some other responsible adult coming to his rescue. "…You stay on the _opposite_ side of the village, you got that? No where _near_ the Bijuu. Stay hidden. Don't get near any fires. Stay together. Actually--stay with me."

"You've already proven you can't keep up with us," Ryo reminded him. "Why don't you just stick with Hitomi and keep an eye out for her?"

"I am staying with Seishirou," Hitomi replied, narrowing her doe eyes in Ryo's direction. She hadn't quite grasped the real concept of Hyuuga glaring, but she was coming pretty darn close.

Ryo backed down, but Seishirou spoke up instead. "No, you are staying here with Kisho."

"Mother told me to stay with you."

"She didn't mean like this."

"How do you know? I am not staying here. I will be a stationary target, and that is not good." Seishirou bit back a curse; she was right. No wonder he didn't like her being in the academy; she learned too much! Where did his naive, clueless little sister go...? He couldn't even imagine what a pain she'd be once she gained genin status.

"…Fine, you're coming with me." He took her hand, entwining their fingers and making sure that she knew he wasn't letting go. Seishirou then turned to Ryo. "What now, oh one of many plans? How are we getting over the wall?"

"Climb it." The ginger-haired boy pointed to Hitomi in reply. "Oh. Well…carry her? I had to carry her all the way over here, so it's your turn."

Kisho was already scaling the wall. He turned back to look over his shoulder at their progress occasionally, but he still made it to the top before any of them had gotten ten feet off the ground. The cat sat on top of it, watching the Bijuu across the village with large, green eyes, tail flicking behind him. At least he could still keep an eye on the princess' kittens, even if they didn't listen to him (or even her).

"You're heavy. The first thing I'm doing after this is all over is teaching you how to climb walls," Seishirou grunted. Mostly it was just for something to say. After all, what else could one say when they were going to face _demons_? Miki giggled nervously. Ryo just pressed ahead, his mouth a firm line.

They made it to the top of the wall, and took in for the first time the extent of the damage done to their village. Almost half of it was in flames. A good section of the wall and business district was totaled, smashed into rubble by the Bijuu itself. Otherwise, the fiery cat seemed stuck in one spot, held there--more or less--by a wide array of water jutsus aimed at it. _But of course. Our jounin can protect this village easily. Mizukage-sama, too. Now it'll only be a matter of time before they force the cat back,_ Seishirou told himself.

Miki took a step forward and jumped off the wall, landing neatly below on her hands and feet. Ryo's descent was less than graceful (as with most of the things he did); he tried to copy the movement, but lost his footing, and instead skidded down the side of the wall on his backside. Hitomi watched them both with a neutral expression, before bodily pushing her brother off the edge, momentarily surprised when his hand stayed connected and she was pulled down with him.

Seishirou landed on his feet.

Hitomi landed on Seishirou.

"You guys…" Miki sighed, hanging her head. Yet again, she was the only one to come out of a situation involving her team with her dignity intact. "Sometimes it's embarrassing just to be seen with you. Are you all okay?"

"Yeah…" Aside from a bruised ego, of course.

"I swear, you three are the most incompetent ninja I have ever seen," Kisho spat, landing lightly beside them on his paws.

"Hey!" Miki squawked indignantly.

"I didn't mean you."

"Then, for the record, I am not yet a ninja," Hitomi said flatly.

"Point taken. But _you_ two have no excuses."

"I was pushed," Seishirou complained, dusting himself off.

"You needed to get down somehow." She said this remorselessly, using her free hand to fix her hair.

-.-.-

Next Chapter: Two groups join the fight--Akatsuki and children. The Nibi figures out that there is more than just Hidan hiding in Kirigakure, while Sasori and the Sanbi battle it out. Everything starts going wrong, very wrong...


	4. It's All Downhill From Here

The Nibi hissed when something sharp and burning hit her on the back. She looked around furiously for the source of it, but couldn't locate it. The pain came again, and this time she managed to figure out that it came from above. Nekomata craned her head up, to find the last thing she expected to see.

A clay bird.

_Didn't… That Akatsuki member used it. There are more of them here?!_

That sure was interesting to know. It not only meant that this wouldn't be as easy as she'd initially thought, but it also meant that the remaining members could somehow communicate with each other. But…why now? Before, she had attacked her member several times, some of them even when he was partner-less. So it had to do something with Kirigakure…

Did they just all come to Kiri to save it? No, they wouldn't be so loyal to a village. So that had to mean that they had some connection to someone in Kirigakure itself. The Mizukage? Had he called them all here? Perhaps that was something to look into…

The cat's eyes opened wider as the night sky around her melted. The nearly black sky dripped onto the flames with the consistency of wax. The Bijuu shook her head, and the illusion promptly disappeared, revealing that it was just that--an illusion. Nekomata scowled, looking around for the source of that, too. No Akatsuki member had used genjutsu in their fight, and she thought that the Uchiha was dead… And who could pull off a _genjutsu_, of all things, that could affect a chakra demon? That alone spoke of great skill with illusions. Something else to look into.

It had definitely been a good idea to come to Kirigakure, the Nibi decided. Even if she was getting her fur wet with all of the water jutsus.

-.-.-

"What are _you_ doing here?!"

They hadn't been in Kiri twenty minutes before someone found them. And unfortunately, it was Miki's mother. The woman had a soot-blackened face and was panting, but overall she appeared alright. Miki couldn't help but rush forward and hug her. Still, it meant they were busted, unless they could talk their way out of this.

"We came to help!"

"You kids shouldn't be here!" Her mother detached her daughter from her waist, holding her at arm's length. She looked her up and down, checking for injuries. The woman even went as far as to glance over at the other three children to make sure they weren't hurt, either. "You will get hurt--or-or worse…! You'll have to all go back to the safe house, _now_, and hope the Bijuu doesn't follow you--"

"No can do." Ryo shook his head, somewhat bored by this entire exchange. He never had been good with interacting with others' parents. "We're not exactly drained of chakra, but we're fairly certain we don't have enough to make it back unless we want to swim."

"Then swim!" Miki's mother shot a disdainful look at Kisho, clearly asking, 'how could you have let them come here?'. She turned her daughter around and started shooing them towards the wall again. Miki dug her heels into the dirt below.

"No, we came to help!" she repeated firmly. "Mama, we _can_ help! We've already promised Kisho to stay on the other side of the village, and we can help rescue trapped people and stuff!" It had sounded like such a good idea on the island, when all they had to contend with was a talking cat, but now, the rationale behind the move seemed flimsy and weak...

"You will do no such thing, young lady. We are handling ourselves and our village quite well, all things considered, and now you'll only have the adults worrying about you. What if you get hurt, Miki? What if--"

What Miki's mother was worried about and was trying to protect her daughter from was danger. It was generic, mysterious in nature, but it was all around them, especially in their current situation. It could come in any form, whether it be Bijuu, fires, or some other horrible thing. Right then, it came in the form of a jet of fire from the Nibi.

The fire-breathing cat launched an arc of flames over the village, aiming at something in the air. It probably missed its intended target, but instead just rained downward once gravity took back over. It was an accident. Somehow, that only made it worse. After all, shinobi could usually tell with that unnerving sixth sense of theirs when an angry attack was coming at them. Now they had no such protection.

The area was very suddenly bathed in fire, simply put.

Oh, sure, because of the distance, there were holes in it and it had been weakened greatly. But the fact remained. Seishirou suddenly found himself hugging Hitomi to his chest, boxed in on all sides by crackling flames higher than his head. His heartbeat suddenly skyrocketed, and he could feel Hitomi shaking against him. With his arms around his sister, he made signs behind her back. Coughing from both the dry smoke and the lack of oxygen, he barked, "_Doton: Obutsu Boufuu no jutsu_!" The dirt underneath them shot up into the air, effectively suffocating the fire--and kids--until there was nothing but quietly smoldering embers remaining.

Seishirou collapsed to his knees, coughing. Hitomi fell out of his arms, stunned into silence, except for the occasional polite cough, covered with her dusty kimono sleeve. Her naturally black hair was lightened by the dirt into a chocolate hue. Seishirou's own was probably a matching color. She was blinking, probably trying to get the remnants of the jutsu out of her large eyes. Seishirou rolled over onto his back, breathing gratefully. He was definitely glad sensei had pushed him to learn the 'stupid dust cloud' move now. At the time, it had seemed silly, but it only showed him that sensei really did know best. (And here he thought that excuse was lame. Who knew there was some truth behind it?)

"Sei--Seishirou, did you put out the fire?" Ryo stumbled into his field of vision, also panting and coughing. His face was as dark as his hair and he was holding one shoulder. Most of his shirt had burned away (which Hitomi blushed at) to reveal and badly burned shoulder and arm, which he was holding with his other hand. But at least he was still alive.

Seishirou just nodded.

"So where's--" He didn't like the way his teammate cut himself off. The ginger-haired genin sat up, looking for Miki. Ryo staggered over to where she was kneeling as Seishirou picked himself up (pulling Hitomi up by the hand with him). In spite of the near-death experience, now his heart rate suddenly dropped, and he felt a cold shiver go down his spine when he found her.

Miki was kneeling, but she didn't appear conscious. She was probably only upright because her mother was lying against her, keeping her there. Her hair was singed several inches shorter in some places and she, too, suffered some burns on her exposed arms and one leg. Miki's eyes were open, though, and were staring blankly ahead of her. Ryo waved a hand in front of her face, getting no response. He frowned, and then knelt down and put his fingers to her neck. Seishirou just stared.

"She has a pulse. It's…I don't think it's too strong, but it's definitely there." He nodded to himself, furrowing his brow. Then he looked over at Miki's mother. "…" She was most obviously dead. Seishirou, personally, would have been more shocked if she wasn't. "…Miki-chan, Miki, wake up…"

Miki blinked, and then slowly raised her head, trying to focus. "…Huh?" The girl frowned faintly, and then blinked again. She winced when she tried to get up, and only fell again. Ryo caught her. But then they both fell over; apparently Ryo couldn't support her with his injured shoulder. Seishirou glanced at Hitomi, and then let go of her hand, running over to help. His sister tottered after him after just a brief, betrayed pause.

Hitomi was handed off to Ryo, who had her tiny hand in his unburned one, which made her blush even more. She wouldn't look in his direction, which made things awkward. Ryo politely pretended not to notice; now was not the time for such things. Seishirou, as the least injured of the group, helped half-carry, half-lead Miki to the village walls. It was the safest place they could think of, considering all of the burning buildings around them.

None of them would admit what a horrible idea this had turned out to be.

"Where's my mother?" Miki asked thickly, raising her head a bit. Seishirou looked at Ryo for a reply, but the black-haired genin couldn't offer any. "Sei-kun? Where's my mama?"

"She…" He couldn't continue. How did you tell your teammate her mother just died? Died trying to get her daughter to safety? Seishirou exhaled, trying to come up with something. Nothing jumped into his mind as inspiration. The silence hung in the air like the smoke around them. "Wait--where's Kisho?"

Hitomi jumped slightly and looked around with wide eyes. "I…I have not seen him." Seishirou grimaced. If he had gotten Kisho killed or lost, he would never be able to live with himself. Sure, the cat got annoying, but he was a friend; not to mention how attached his sister was to their pet. It was rather horrible to think of it that way, when Miki's mother had just died, but Hitomi knew Kisho better than the woman, anyway. This was a blow closer to home. "Seishirou, where is Kisho?"

"There--he's on that roof." Ryo nodded ahead of them, where a dimly silhouetted shape was perched. But as they neared, it just turned out to be a regular cat, escaping the nearby burning building. Hitomi offered a small frown at this, lower lip trembling. Miki, too, was near tears, probably because she had figured out that her mother wasn't with them for a reason. She had that 'I must act like a kunoichi' look on her face, though, trying to stave off the crying until later. Seishirou could feel control of the situation slipping out of his hands (though it wasn't like he had much to begin with). "I'm sure he'll show up eventually…" Ryo said uncertainly, giving Hitomi's hand a little squeeze. She didn't even blush this time, but just nodded with a cheerless expression.

Seishirou continued helping Miki towards the wall. It was the safest place to be, for sure. All around them houses burned merrily, one or two of them already partially collapsed. They passed two other bodies along the way, though whether or not they were breathing was unknown. None of them could work up the courage to check. Miki was acting like the soldier she was; she hadn't shed a tear yet, though occasionally she'd cough or make an odd little hiccupping sound. Even Seishirou couldn't quite swallow past a lump in his throat. So much for helping people…

Then, suddenly, one of Miki's coughs turned into a sob, and then more coughing. She collapsed, pulling Seishirou down with her. With one hand, she covered her mouth, but the over was clutching her chest. "Miki?!" Ryo ran over, pulling Hitomi behind him.

The coughing wouldn't stop. Now, too, though, it was clear there were tears streaming down her soot-covered cheeks, cutting tracks through the black. It was hard to tell if she really was coughing as violently as it seemed, or if she was sobbing. Seishirou could only kneel beside her and rub her back, nearly hyperventilating. Was this supposed to happen? They hadn't learned about what to do in this kind of situation at the academy! The other two just stood over them, watching, as he tried to comfort his sobbing teammate.

Nearby, one of the buildings caved in, sending a bright shower of embers into the air. There was a yowl, and just as the kids looked up, a blackened Kisho ran out from the doorway just as it vanished in flames. The cat was panting and burnt, but alive. "There you kids are!!" He sounded immensely relieved. Hitomi leaned forward and picked him up, hugging him tight enough to her chest to make him wince.

"Kisho," she said simply, but there was an untold amount of relief in that one word.

Miki's coughing, too, subsided and she gave them all a watery, apologetic smile. "I-I'm sorry, guys…"

"You should all just be lucky you're alive!" Kisho scolded, squirming in Hitomi's arms.

Then, something roared. Something that was _much_ closer than the Nibi was. Something that sounded like it was just on the other side of the village walls they were resting by.

Something else was just-as-suddenly thrown _through_ the village wall, sending rubble and dust down on the heads of the kids and cat. Another something followed it through, but seemingly much more willingly.

And then, a massive paw rested itself on top of the remaining village wall, and pulled up a massive head up after it.

"Damn, that hurt…" Whoever had been thrown through the wall stumbled back to his feet, rubbing his head. Seishirou was both surprised and alarmed that it was just a kid, probably only a few years older than himself. But--his ringed eyes then caught sight of what the redheaded stranger was wearing.

An Akatsuki uniform.

The Akatsuki member (or impersonator) suddenly noticed the genin (and Hitomi) there for the first time. His eyes widened, and then he shouted, "What the hell do you think you're doing here?!" They were taken aback that he would even notice them while fighting that thing, and were even more surprised when the cat responded.

"It's not my fault!" Kisho yowled in reply from Hitomi's arm. "They came of their own free will; I couldn't stop them…!"

Unfortunately, all of the shouting attracted the giant head's attention. The turtle-like creature looked down at the children curiously, but with no small amount of boredom. "Ehh? What's this you have here, Sasori…?" Just the creature's voice alone shook the ground below them. It was a massive beast. Seishirou racked his brain for which Bijuu--for it was apparent that was what this beast must be--was the turtle. Sanbi? Or Yonbi? And how had no one noticed it _before_?!

Sasori--if that was who the redhead was--scowled. He jerked his hand up, and whoever had followed him through the hole in the wall ran towards him, standing in front of him protectively. It was another man, it seemed, with white hair and, from what Seishirou could tell at that distance, mismatched eyes. Sasori, behind him, had pulled a scroll out of his sleeve and was busy unfurling it.

"Sei," Ryo hissed, behind him. He snapped his attention back to his teammates. "We have to get out of here. Out of the village."

"Yeah." He swallowed nervously, pulling Miki up beside him as he stood up. She gave him a grateful, if a bit weak, smile. "Looks like that Akatsuki member will take things from here…"

"But…I thought you said that there was only one in the village. And that he was an albino." Ryo stood back up as well, grabbing Hitomi's hand once more (and she blushed again; that was a good sign). She was having some difficulty holding onto Kisho with one arm, and eventually was forced to drop the cat.

"…We got more?" Miki asked, gasping softly. Quite the revelation indeed. Maybe two Bijuu weren't so scary, if they had more than one Akatsuki-nin in the vicinity... "Is this the albino's partner? They were supposed to travel in partners…"

"Let's not question the gift," Seishirou said simply. Something about that young Akatsuki member was unnerving. Almost like it was déjà vu. But it really was better to get out of there instead of sitting there, wondering about the Akatsuki. Most of them were dead, anyway, so it wasn't like they would get any more members coming to their rescue.

"He knew Kisho…" Ryo said indifferently, though his tone hinted at something much less innocent. The cat laid his ears back against his head, looking away.

"Let's just go, Ryo-kun," Miki said firmly. "The important thing right now is getting us all out of here safely…" Her voice broke. Seishirou gave her what he hoped was a comforting squeeze. "Le-Let's just go…"

Unfortunately, the turtle Bijuu wasn't deaf. It reared back, and then shot a stream of water down at them, like a massive bucket of water. Probably not as harmless or funny, though, if it hit them. They all looked up in alarm, but something promptly stepped in between them and put up some sort of black shield between them, effectively repelling the water.

"Get out of here, idiots!" Sasori snarled. He was still standing behind his white-haired protector, but he appeared to have had a hand in whoever-this-was saving them. Ryo nodded uncertainly and led Hitomi onto the nearest rooftop. It took a bit of awkward rearranging, but Seishirou and Miki followed them. The group jumped from roof to roof, only having to dodge one more water attack from the Bijuu before it apparently got caught up fighting Sasori once more. Or maybe it just lost interest in a bunch of fleeing children.

_Where have I seen that kid before?_ Seishirou couldn't help but think. Something about him was just familiar…

Unfortunately, as they traveled away from the turtle, they were headed towards the cat. Or rather, where the cat had been. More and more roofs they had to land on were scorched or even still smoldering; they tried to avoid the ones that were still obviously on fire. As they got towards that side of the village, it became harder and harder to do. They sped up, trying to spend the least amount of time on each rooftop, especially those with flames.

"Come on, come on!" Kisho hurried them, staying just behind Seishirou and Miki as some sort of would-be rearguard. Seishirou wasn't quite sure what the cat could do, but apparently he could perform some limited ninjutsu. Better than nothing as a guard, he supposed. And it was the thought that counted, right?

Then, as Seishirou's foot connected with the roof Ryo and Hitomi had just vacated, it promptly gave out.

He and Miki tumbled into the house below, flames roaring up all around them with the sudden burst of oxygen. They landed on their feet, but a moment later, when the rest of the roof fell in as well, they had to tumble to the side less than gracefully to avoid it. Both genin pressed up against the nearest still-standing wall, coughing. "You… Are you okay?"

"Mmhmm." Miki nodded. "Y-You?"

Seishirou nodded, too, already looking around for some way out. Not the way they came in, that was for sure. As he looked around, though, he was surprised to find Kisho. Either the cat had followed them, or had fallen in with them. He, too, was pressed up against the wall, covering his nose with his paw. The cat seemed just as lost as they when it came to finding an obvious escape route.

Then, as one of the Bijuu roared outside, the wall they were leaning against shuddered. And then rocked towards them.

Seishirou pulled Miki to him and kicked off against it, trying to get them both out of its range. The wall fell, shooting up embers at them, but it seemed both of them got out of it alright. He looked around for Kisho--only to find the cat sitting near his foot. "Come on," Kisho meowed, walking out into the middle of the room. "If you head up out of the open roof, maybe you can find something to stand on--"

Then the beam that had been supported by the wall came down squarely on the cat. For a moment, the grey feline just laid there, pinned to the ground by the burning wood, before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

-.-.-

Everything started going wrong very, very quickly. It started when Deidara was knocked out of the air by a tail, probably. Or maybe even earlier than that. He had noticed that the Nibi was actively trying to seek him out in the night sky, so he could only surmise that it knew he was Akatsuki. While he was flying out of the way of the cat's paws, one of its tails--the one that wasn't cut--swatted him out of the air like a bug.

And then caught him before he could hit the ground. In its mouth.

Deidara could only feel blank shock when he thought of Tobi's demise. But the Nibi didn't swallow him, or even chew on him; it just caught him in its mouth, applying just enough pressure to stop him from going anywhere.

He could hear Hinata scream, even from the height he was stuck at. Deidara shut his eyes tightly, hoping it hadn't drawn the attention of the Nibi.

It had.

The Nibi growled something unintelligible around him. He could feel its hot breath against his skin, and hoped that it wouldn't feel the need to be breathing any fire anytime soon. But then suddenly, something that sounded suspiciously like a bomb went off below him, and the cat's front paws gave out, tumbling both of them towards the ground. Deidara fell out upon impact, but was too dizzy to do anything more than stumble to his feet for a brief moment. Worst yet: he was still standing just a few feet in front of the Nibi's muzzle.

"Stupid little ninja," it snarled, inhaling sharply. Deidara turned around and raised his arms to protect his head, a flimsy defense. But then, someone else jumped in front of him and grabbed him in a hug. Hinata had just enough time to give him a reassuring smile before throwing both of them into a spin, the _Kaiten_ protecting them both from the fire suddenly issued from the cat's mouth.

The Nibi jumped back on its paws, snorting. Some of the fire had rebounded off of the sphere and hit its nose and whiskers, but only enough to annoy, not harm. "Stupid shinobi!" it yowled, tails bristling.

As the _Kaiten_ ended, both Hinata and Deidara collapsed. Mostly because he thought if he had been dizzy before, that was nothing compared to now. He gagged, but thankfully didn't throw up. He didn't need to get sick _now_ of all times. And apparently the strain of two people in a single _Kaiten_ was taxing on Hinata. "Neji…said he did that…before…" she panted, getting back to her feet. Deidara grinned weakly at her, still feeling slightly sick.

"Never do that again, yeah…"

The Nibi's paw connected with both shinobi then, though, sending them into the air. And instead of catching them, it just let them fall back to the hard ground below. Upon impact, Deidara heard something crack and pain shot up to his shoulder. The Bijuu then walked leisurely over to them, grinning sharply.

Hinata struggled to her feet. She walked over and stood in front of Deidara, both arms out, protecting him. The blonde got up and shoved her out of the way, but then she responded by shoving him back. Clearly the Nibi was perplexed with this behavior, but that didn't last long.

"…Dark hair and white eyes. You aren't that little Hyuuga girl Youko told me about, are you?" The cat bent down until the bottom of its jaw was brushing the dirt, roughly eye-level with them. Both humans turned toward it.

Hinata paled. Deidara jumped to her rescue. "Are you crazy, you stupid cat?! I've just met this stupid woman! She probably thinks she's doing something noble by protecting an Akatsuki member, yeah."

The Nibi was not swayed. "You _are_ that little Hyuuga girl. Shukaku told me about you, too. You went on the mission to capture his Jinchuuriki, and then Youko fought you with his Jinchuuriki… And… You're his _friend_, aren't you?" Its eyes darted towards Deidara. "_You_ were the one that was always hanging around with the Akatsuki."

"No, she's not!" Deidara burst out fiercely, pulling a clay dragon out of his pocket. The Nibi snorted, the hot blast of air enough to knock it out of his hands.

"Only someone around Akatsuki level could use genjutsu on a demon," the Nibi said triumphantly.

Hinata looked scandalized. "I am _not_ Akatsuki level!" Deidara would have smacked his head against the nearest hard thing if he could have. _That_ was what she chose to deny? Nice to know her self-esteem hadn't changed much…

The cat demon let out something that could have been a giggle. It sounded like a cross between a loud purr and nails on a chalkboard. Both ninja clamped their hands over their ears, wincing. "I can't believe my luck! I came here to get that immortal, but instead I get an Akatsuki member and _another_ body! And it's _female_, too!" Before they could react, she batted them into the air again, and this time caught them both in her mouth.

Then, the Nibi turned as she spotted something near the beach.

"Hey! You bitchy excuse for a housecat!" It was Hidan. He had cupped his hand over his mouth to carry his voice, though he really was loud enough he didn't need it. "I bet you can't fuckin' catch me, you fiery shit!" And then he turned and ran across the water, towards the mainland.

The Nibi growled, snorting out a small plume of fire. "Isonade!" it screeched around the two humans in its mouth. Deidara felt his ears ringing from the volume.

_Oh, great…there's another one here? Wait, oh yeah. The Sanbi,_ he thought dully. As he thought that, the explosive artist was trying to wiggle his arm free, just enough to pull his other dragon out of his cloak…

There was an answering roar. The cat laid its long ears back, hissing. "Just go after the immortal!" And because it had to move its jaw slightly to speak around them, Deidara got the leeway he needed to get his bomb.

The dragon wasn't maximized, but it still packed a punch when he detonated it after throwing it down the Bijuu's throat.

The Nibi dropped them at once, reeling back with massive coughs and yowls. But it didn't waste any time. Before either he or Hinata even touched the ground, two tails lashed around and caught them both, squeezing _hard_. Deidara gasped in one breath of air before it was crushed out of his lungs and the world faded to black.

-.-.-

The Sanbi left. Sasori was more than surprised, but kept it easily hidden. He was more worried about what this meant. Still, he collapsed against the puppet of the Copy-nin, panting and wishing it actually served a purpose. He had been holding his own against the demon until those kids arrived… Sasori supposed he was just lucky that the Bijuu hadn't recognized Seishirou. Though it probably only would have if it had caught a glimpse of his eyes, thank the gods.

_Imagine running into him like that, after all this time. Fate is a bitch_, he decided, calling back his Sandaime puppet as well. He was keeping these two close to him, just in case. But he heard the splashing that meant that the turtle really _was_ leaving. The Nibi had shouted something about the immortal… _Hidan!_

He didn't know that the Sanbi was here. He was only looking out for the Nibi. "Oh damn it, Hidan, you idiot!" Sasori took off running towards the other side of the village, hoping he could make it in time. If the other Akatsuki member was caught off guard, he'd be captured. And the Bijuu didn't need an immortal Jinchuuriki. The redhead glanced up, scanning the dark night for any hints of a clay bird. Maybe he'd gotten lucky and Deidara was already heading off to warn Hidan…

Sasori made it to the opposite village wall--or rather, the rubble of it--just as the Nibi left. What he saw, then, stopped him dead.

Two people were coiled in the Nibi's tails.

One of them had long, blonde hair and a black uniform.

Sasori felt someone run past him, and turned just in time to see a frazzled, slightly scorched Neji rush past. He didn't stop, but just kept running, trying to catch up to the departing demons. So that meant Hinata was the other one… That was even worse! Now, the Bijuu would catch Hidan, too, and have _three bodies_. Not to mention one of them would be Deidara--Sasori shook his head. He would _not_ dwell on that. Instead, he just put the Sandaime and Copy-nin back in their scrolls, and tried to think rationally about this.

Neji just ran off to his death, but he wouldn't do the same mistake.

The Nibi wouldn't go in the water, he noted. It waited until the Sanbi came back, and then climbed delicately onto its back. Bizarre, but something worth knowing. Anything that could be used against those demons was worth knowing. But then, Sasori realized with a cold feeling that the Sanbi had someone in its jaws, too.

Sasori tore down the beach after them, logic and reason forgotten. "Deidara! _Deidara_!!" If they had Hidan, then the world would only go to hell in a hand basket, and Deidara would be at the front of that with his princess.

The shouting caused the Nibi to turn around, blood dripping out of its mouth. Without saying anything, the cat inhaled, and then exhaled nothing but fire. Sasori could only watch as the wall of flames came towards him.

-.-.-

**End of Arc One: Kirigakure**

-.-.-

Next Chapter: The survivors wake up and find their respective worlds in ashes. Sasori gives himself a week to catch up to Deidara. The kids go back to Kirigakure for some supplies, and then set out on their own, running into several people they'd be better off not knowing.


	5. Setting Out

**Arc Two: Akatsuki**

-.-.-

Seishirou woke up without any knowledge that he'd fallen asleep. And, as any good shinobi should, he tried to remember the last time he was conscious to make sure nothing bad had happened. _I was…I was in that burning building…Did I pass out?!_ Passing out from smoke inhalation seemed likely, but then…how was he _alive_? He should have burned up and died. Cremated.

There were suddenly two large, white eyes staring at him. "You are awake."

Hitomi jerked her head back just in time to avoid her brother hitting her as he sat up, looking around wildly. Ryo was sitting a few feet away, knees drawn up to his chest and head buried in his arms. Seishirou couldn't tell if he was awake or sleeping. "Where's Miki-chan?"

Ryo flinched as if struck. Hitomi looked away. Seishirou's heart sank.

-.-.-

The three kids slowly wandered back to Kirigakure around noon. Ryo and Hitomi had rescued both Seishirou and Miki from the burning house, but Seishirou had been the only one to wake up. They'd dragged both of them to one of the nearer deserted islands, waiting out the night until the Bijuu had vanished. Now, they could go back and see the wreckage of their village.

Everything seemed to be either burned to rubble and ashes or still burning. Here and there, there were a few corpses, some barely recognizable, lying on the ground. None of them were their parents or their sensei, thankfully.

There was no one alive in sight.

The whole village had an eerie quality, like a ghost town. Which it really was, now. Smoke hung near the ground like a fog, replacing the familiar mist they had grown up with. The sky was bright and clear, the sun shining cheerfully down on them, in direct contrast to the darkened houses.

The three of them walked silently through the rows of buildings. None of them had anything to say.

Ryo's house was still standing. They reached it first. He just stared up at it, dark eyes unreadable. "…Let's go." He shouldered past them and they continued on their aimless quest.

Seishirou was holding onto Hitomi's hand tightly, unaware that he was doing so. He just walked, trying not to stare at everything. It was hard to look at. Their house, too, was standing…to a degree. One of the rooms had collapsed, due to the house next door falling on it.

Hitomi pulled away from her brother and walked inside the doorway. Seishirou wordlessly followed her in, Ryo right behind him. The little girl went straight up the stairs to her bedroom. Seishirou could only stand in the partially collapsed living room, looking at all the damage. Just a few weeks ago he was here, answering the door to find that albino man…

Hitomi came back downstairs clutching an assortment of her things. There was some smoke discoloration, but they didn't seem too bad. Seishirou almost smiled at the collection, though; it was her stuffed chicken, which he gave to her for her first birthday, a couple of her barrettes, a hair brush, and her favorite kimono's sash. Hitomi looked up at the boys solemnly, and then asked, "Well?"

"Well what?" Ryo said, nonplussed.

"Are we not leaving?"

"Why would we do that?"

"Do you want to live here?" she asked them, narrowing her eyes slightly. "I will stay if you do, but I will admit now that it may be rather depressing--"

Ryo laughed. Both Seishirou and Hitomi looked at him, albeit with different expressions. Hitomi's was polite, whereas Seishirou was staring at him, appalled. "I can't believe you're thinking so…practically," Ryo admitted, biting his lip to stop from continuing his laughter. "Two ninja, and it's the academy student that is getting us prepped for traveling…"

"Hitomi-chan? Practical?" That had Seishirou laughing. Not at his sister, per se, but really at her habits. Hitomi watched him warily, brushing her hair with the brush. Now she was the only one who wasn't trying to bite back giggles. "Hitomi's the most impractical student I know!" She glared at him, pouting.

"Huh? I thought you said she was a good student…" Ryo scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"I am," Hitomi interjected with a sniff.

"Yeah, I guess she is. But watch this." Seishirou walked over and ruffled his sister's black hair. Hitomi gave a small shriek, and spent the next seven minutes and thirty-one seconds fixing it. (Seishirou counted.) "See? She's totally obsessed with how she looks."

"I am right here. I _can_ hear you," Hitomi growled, cheeks tinged pink from the situation.

"You should see it when she gets her kimono dirty…" Seishirou said flatly, sighing. She went bright red and hid her face in her sleeves. Ryo chuckled, but hastily cut himself off. "But…yeah. Where are we going to go?"

"Away from here," Ryo suggested in a deadpan. It was a skill of his to be laughing one moment, and have a totally straight face the next. It always drove Seishirou mad, but now he didn't mind it so much. "Let's just leave. …Come on, let's gather some supplies. _Practical_ supplies."

They set out the next day.

-.-.-

Sasori awoke painfully. So, of course, the first thing he realized was that his heart had been damaged. After all, a human puppet didn't feel pain unless the human part came into play. He sat up, running his hands over his chest. It looked like only the heart container itself was burned…which meant he'd live. Oh joy.

He shook his head to clear it.

Deidara… He had been kidnapped. Taken by the Bijuu for bodies.

_But they can't seal him without all of them there. So they have to travel back. …I have to catch them before that,_ Sasori thought darkly. He couldn't allow himself to hope that it would take more than a week or so. Unless he got lucky and one of the other demons was out at the time, and they had to wait for it to get back as well…

A week. A week was all the hope he'd allow himself.

So the Suna-nin got to his feet, dusting off his burnt and tattered uniform. He looked around him for a moment, making sure he wasn't missing any body parts or weapons. Then he left Kirigakure, without turning back. He had a mission, after all, and nothing came between a ninja and his mission.

-.-.-

Suigetsu stretched. He missed sleeping in a bed, he really did. But after the last debacle they'd caused in the last village they visited, he didn't blame Sasuke for keeping them out in the woods. Even if he hated sleeping on the ground. _Especially_ when it rained. (Because it _always_ rained.) Then he'd wake up waterlogged and sluggish and sick. Not how he would normally like to start the day.

"What's for breakfast?" he asked, rolling back his shoulders.

"Don't ask me. I'm not your _maid_, Suigetsu," Karin sniffed. "Or servant or slave or cook or anything. You're lucky I call you a teammate."

"…So what's for breakfast?" Suigetsu repeated. She threw her hairbrush at him. He caught it and threw it back on reflex. It was how their mornings usually went.

"Can't you two act normally for _once_?" the little boy sitting in Karin's lap asked. He really wasn't little, though his mother liked to tell him otherwise. She caught the brush again, and returned to brushing the boy's washed-out hair without acknowledging that she'd fought with Suigetsu at all.

"I agree," Sasuke said stiffly. "You think you would have sorted out your differences, but _no_…" He flipped a page in the book he was pretending to read.

"Aww, is Sasuke-kun jealous?" Suigetsu cooed. "He has no one to have a lover's spat with."

"Add lover to the list of things I'm not," Karin interrupted, finishing brushing her son's hair.

"That's cold."

"Suck it up," Sasuke told him, giving him a red-eyed stare.

"One of these days, this sword," the Kiri-nin pointed to the slightly rusty sword, laying in the grass a few feet off, "is going through your neck."

"This family is so fucked up," the boy sighed. Karin smacked him lightly on the head.

"Don't swear. It's bad for you."

"Sasuke-san swears. Dad swears. You swear."

"All beside the point," she said simply. "Your dad is old, anyway."

"That would make _you_ old too, bitch," Suigetsu retorted wryly.

"Sweetie, go play in the forest while I shove daddy's sword up his ass, okay?"

Yep, definitely a typical day for Suigetsu. He snagged his son as he passed, just in case Karin was serious. But at least she wouldn't dare do anything _serious_ while he was here. Or at least shed blood. Though the kid was already eleven and probably at least a chuunin, she still had a fit whenever he had to see the tiniest drop of blood. And considering the group he was traveling with, that happened quite often. Karin gave them both a dirty look, and then stood up, and walked off, still holding her brush like a sword.

"You guys are weird," the boy deadpanned. Sasuke nodded his agreement from behind his book.

"Yeah, well, you have _both_ our genes so by default that makes you weirder than us," Suigetsu replied, waving a hand dismissively. "It's common to have a few eccentricities in high-level shinobi, anyway. Or haven't you learned that yet?"

"I have so learned it!" he burst out defensively. Suigetsu chuckled, crossing his arms. At least he could still win an argument with _someone_ in this group.

-.-.-

Ryo and Seishirou took turns trying to teach Hitomi how to walk on water. After all, she was heavy, and they didn't want to carry her all the way to the mainland. But it was an impossible feat. She had to learn something _perfectly_, and know every little detail about the technique before attempting it. And needless to say, two genin who had only learned it a couple of months ago weren't the best teachers.

"Okay, so you know how to gather chakra, right?" Ryo asked for the umpteenth time.

Hitomi nodded seriously. "It is how mother says I should fight." Ryo gave his teammate a look, but Seishirou just shrugged.

"Something about her bloodline limit…"

"Anyway, you just put your chakra in your feet." He raised one leg, showing her his sandaled foot, balancing on top of the water with the other. They were currently taking a rest on one of the many tiny islands, where Ryo was supposed to be making Hitomi practice in the shallows. "And keep it level."

Seishirou rolled his eyes as Hitomi asked, "How do you know when it is level?"

"When you don't sink or go flying into the air," he said flatly.

"Then it is a constant output." She nodded to herself seriously. Then she realized that a lock of hair had come out from behind her barrette, and had to spend the next ten minutes fixing her hair.

"This is _impossible_," Ryo complained, walking back over to the beach to collapse on the warm sand. "Hitomi-chan, I'm sorry, but you are incapable of learning." She blushed, pausing in clipping her barrette back on. Seishirou grinned to stop himself from laughing.

It was the next day before they made it to the mainland. Hitomi still hadn't learned how to walk on water, which made for two very tired boys. But they still had a few hours left of sunlight, so they decided to press on as far in as they could go. At least traveling in the forest was fun, and even Hitomi could keep up.

"Is walking on trees the same principle?" she asked. She was confined to the ground as Seishirou and Ryo jumped from tree to tree. But they were still kind enough to stop and wait for her occasionally.

"More or less. But it takes less chakra, since the wood doesn't absorb it like water," Ryo replied, somewhat impressed that the little girl would have picked up on the similarities. Hitomi blushed as she nodded. "Hitomi-chan…do you know _any_ jutsus?"

"…" She tilted her head back and thought about it. That wasn't reassuring. "…_Bunshin_, _Henge_ and _Kawarimi_." Which, for an academy student, wasn't half bad, but for two genin boys, it just posed a problem. She was a liability.

Their patience was taxed even further when she had to stop to fix her hair again.

Hitomi meticulously combed through her dark locks with her fingers, taking out the barrettes and putting them back in the exact same place. "Okay," she announced several minutes later. Just as she started walking--both boys sighed in relief and jumped back up into the trees--she noticed that her kimono had a smear of dirt on it. "Wait."

Hitomi then untied the obi around her waist, and proceeded to strip down to her underwear. She spent several more minutes rubbing the dirt out, shaking the fabric out, and then trying to get it out more. It was nearly half an hour before she was fully dressed again, not a bit of fabric out of place. She looked up, smiling in slight embarrassment. "Alright--"

There was no one in sight.

-.-.-

Sasori was lost. Not that he'd ever admit it, but directions were not his strong point. In the sky or in the desert, it was simple. But in a dense forest? Especially one that was unlike the native ones of Ame? So he was lost. And all of the trees were relatively the same height, so he couldn't get to the highest point and check his surroundings from there.

But he wasn't going to lose time. He couldn't afford to. Earlier that day he had seen scorch marks from the Nibi's passage through the forest, and they were fresh. Unfortunately, he'd lost the tracks after a disaster concerning a river and a waterfall. And so here he was, trying to either find a suitable natural landmark or the scorched tracks.

_Six days left,_ he told himself, pulling out the Sandaime's summoning scroll. A puff of smoke later, Sasori was lifted into the air by a pillar of black sand, sitting cross-legged and wondering why he hadn't done this immediately after losing sight of his trail. Ah--there it was. A line of blackened and toppled trees, heading westward just half a kilometer from where he was now. _I'll be there soon, Deidara._

Sasori slid down the pillar as it disintegrated. Halfway down, however, something caught his eye. Unfortunately, before he could do the necessary finger movements to stop the sand from crumbling, it vanished beneath him, and he promptly fell back to the ground. As he was getting up, grumbling, Sasori couldn't help but think he'd just seen Kakuzu.

The clearing where supposedly his ally was located was just north of his position, but that was opposite of the Nibi's trail. Kakuzu would help him, though, especially as it would help his own partner, too. What if it _wasn't_ Kakuzu, though…? Sasori glanced back and forth a few times, sighing. He disliked situations like this. They were best left to textbooks.

With a heavy heart, Sasori turned and headed northward.

-.-.-

Hitomi stood there for the longest time. She had realized that she was lost, and the first classic rule of being lost was not to move, so whoever was supposed to be taking care of you could circle back around and pick you back up.

_But…that does not apply to shinobi_, she noted. As an academy student, she really was in the grey area. _Technically_ not a ninja yet, but she did have some of the training. At least enough to fend off any wild animals that might want to eat her. …Right?

Hitomi looked around her with large, white eyes. There was always the Byakugan… As much as she disliked it, she knew it had its uses. Like now. Her range of sight wasn't particularly large, but anything would help at this point. She brought her small hands up into the seals that her father taught her and whispered, "Byakugan."

The world around her inverted and expanded. Using it always made her dizzy and nauseous, but Hitomi just swallowed past that and tried to focus on one thing at a time. Trees, lots of trees. A few small animals, mostly birds. No humans in sight. The black-haired girl took a step, stumbling. Walking was the hardest to do; motion sickness with three-hundred-and-sixty degree vision? Last time she had used it, Hitomi hadn't lasted ten steps before vomiting. Her mother just told her to practice more.

She took a deep breath, and took another step forward. If she just walked slowly and kept her focus on a stationary thing, she should be fine. She could even turn it off and turn it back on…but that expended chakra. _I am not using it for anything else,_ she thought wryly, gratefully turning her bloodline limit back off. The world returned to normal, and she sighed, relieved.

Hitomi jumped up into the nearest tree, mindful of the fact that she was balancing there. Unlike Seishirou or Ryo, she couldn't glue herself to the bark. Aiming, she jumped into the next tree, amazed at how easy it really was. No wonder shinobi preferred to travel like this!

After a few minutes of tree-jumping, she decided to reactivate the Byakugan. Unfortunately, doing so while she was balancing precariously on a tree branch wasn't the best idea. Hitomi promptly fell out of it before she could adjust, landing on the hard dirt below. "Ow." That would leave a bruise or two.

The impact had shut off her Byakugan. Hitomi gave up on it. She'd learn that later, like the water-walking technique. All in due time. She gave herself a few moments to catch her breath, lying on the ground.

Then someone walked into her (normal) vision.

"Oh…!" the person gasped. Judging from the voice, Hitomi would guess it was female. As if the large breasts suddenly pressing into her face didn't give it away as the woman picked her up and hugged her.

What really caught her attention was the person's ensemble. Black fabric, red lining, high collar, and red clouds outlined in white. Hitomi bit her tongue and kept quiet, still squished against this stranger's chest.

"It's a little girl!" the woman said delightfully with a thick accent. Hitomi didn't know what country it belonged to, though.

The uniform appeared to be about ten or twenty sizes too large for the woman, if the way the fabric was pooling around both of them was anything to go by. _Is it borrowed?_ Hitomi asked herself, keeping a blank face. Luckily, that was something she excelled at.

The woman finally let her go, but only at arm's length. Hitomi sucked in a lungful of breast-less air. "My, aren't you cute!" she exclaimed. The girl didn't reply. This woman had purple hair and blood red facial markings that made it look like she was crying; the description was definitely one she would have remembered in school, so she surmised that the woman had definitely borrowed the uniform. She wasn't Akatsuki.

Then, things suddenly got crazy.

Two more people suddenly crashed into the scene. Literally. Branches above them broke and rained down on both girls as the two fighting landed on the ground. They made quite the crater, too. As the leaves and dust settled, Hitomi watched in shock as the two men stood up, grappling with each other. Even though one of them was a great deal shorter than the other, he seemed to be holding his ground somewhat well. She gasped softly as she recognized him; the redheaded man who was fighting the Sanbi.

"Kakuzu!" the woman shrieked, drawing both males' attention.

"Why the hell are you wearing his uniform?!" the redhead asked, before being picked up swung into the nearest tree, splintering it. He wasn't quick to get back up.

"You are…Akatsuki?!" the woman's anger suddenly melted into delight. "Ohh, now I get two members! And this little girl!"

"I am not yours," Hitomi said flatly. The purple-haired woman waved her off. Hitomi glared back as she stepped forward, raising a hand. The taller man--Kakuzu?--stopped stomping the redhead into the ground obediently.

Then the woman started forming seals. Hitomi knew one thing: she couldn't let her complete them. Because if she had somehow gained an Akatsuki ally, and the other Akatsuki-nin didn't like that, it meant that this fight wasn't fair. And somehow, she wanted to even the odds. The black-haired student kicked the woman in the back of her knee, effectively sending her into the ground.

The redhead, just as that happened, threw what appeared to be a white bird in Kakuzu's face, and then shot a stream of fire at the bird. It promptly exploded, shrouding the entire clearing with smoke.

Hitomi ran for all she was worth. She didn't know what was going on, but the tables must have just turned. And that couldn't have been good for her; she wasn't even a genin. No where near Akatsuki level. So she ran and was out of sight of the clearing before the smoke had cleared. At least she was fast for her age. And she'd had a head start. Hopefully that explosion and the distraction would allow her to get away. This time, she was definitely going to find her brother if it killed her. No more Akatsuki-nin for her, oh no.

Hitomi stopped against one of the trees, chest heaving. There was no sound of the fight, so she hoped she was far enough away. Plus, why would the woman pursue her when she had her hands full with that redheaded boy…?

"Damn, that was my last doll." Hitomi must have jumped a foot in the air.

The redheaded boy was sitting in the tree above her, legs dangling just inches above her head. He was leaning back, looking in the direction she had just come. _Is he really that fast?_ she thought, frowning. She had been sprinting _and_ had a head start, and here he was, not even out of breath.

He jumped down, looking at her, visibly sizing her up. Hitomi narrowed her eyes, frown intensifying. "You've grown," he said simply.

"What--?!"

"You. Have. Grown. The last time I saw you, you were roughly this large." He held up his hands a little ways apart, nodding to himself. "But I suppose that was nearly ten years ago…"

"Who are you?" she asked suspiciously. _She_ certainly didn't remember any redheaded kids. And her parents never mentioned any. Especially ones wearing Akatsuki uniforms. Which was confusing; he couldn't have been much older than her brother, but here he was, wearing the uniform of a long-dead organization. Had he borrowed the cloak like that woman?

"Sasori." The name didn't ring any bells. Sasori could tell from her expression that it didn't, either, judging on the way he sighed and put his hands on his hips. He looked up at the leaves overhead. "…I guess that it's for the best that you don't recognize the name."

"Am I supposed to?"

He just waved a hand over his uniform. Hitomi rolled her eyes. He had definitely borrowed it, then, if he was so willing to show it off.

"Is Seishirou around here? Or did the Nibi carry him off, too? Oh gods, don't tell me they found him already…"

"I lost my brother. The Bijuu did not capture him. They captured others?" she inquired. Apparently this Sasori knew stuff about the demons that she didn't, and if he was going to pretend to be polite to her, might as well get as much as she could out of it.

Sasori gave her an 'are you kidding me?' look. It was unsettling, especially since he still managed to look so _bored_ while doing it. He opened his mouth to speak, but then thought better of it. "…Nevermind… If you're looking for your _brother_, then I suggest you go in that direction." He pointed briefly to his left, before vanishing. Hitomi barely heard the thump of his sandal as it hit the branch above her.

"…" Boy, would she have something to tell Seishirou.

-.-.-

"I thought _you_ were keeping an eye on her!"

"She's _your_ sister, idiot!"

"So?" Seishirou couldn't come up with anything better than that as a retort.

Then, though, they heard an explosion off in the distance. Both boys' eyes widened. Explosions meant fighting. And fighting while a defenseless nine-year-old girl was missing? Not good. They were off like arrows through the trees in that direction.

They hadn't gotten half a kilometer when someone suddenly jumped in front of them, arms held out. Both boys were caught under the chin by this stranger and flipped over, their breath knocked out of them as they landed on the dirt below. "Hitomi-san is off in that direction. Now don't say I've never done a good deed for it's own sake." The stranger leaned down from his branch, tilting his head at the two genin getting slowly back to their feet. Seishirou looked up just in time to see a flash of black and red.

_Why had that voice sounded familiar?_ he couldn't help but think.

"…Who the hell was _that_?!" Ryo demanded hoarsely, holding his neck. Seishirou shrugged, rubbing his own throat. There were definitely nicer ways to stop people to tell them that their sisters were--

"Which way had he pointed?!" he burst out, jumping to his feet.

"I didn't see; I was too busy acquainting myself with the grass," Ryo said flatly, giving him a cold glare. "Good luck trying to find your friend, though. I've never seen anyone but sensei move that fast."

The ginger-haired boy ignored him. Instead, he leaned back and cupped his hands around his mouth, shouting, "Hitomi!!"

"You do not have to be so loud," came the reply, almost at once. Seishirou snapped his head around so fast it was a wonder he didn't break it. There his sister was, picking her way delicately through the undergrowth, careful not to mess up her hair or kimono again. "I was just over there. Sasori told me you were this way."

"Sasori?" Ryo asked, brow furrowing. He, too, got to his feet, dusting himself off. "Why does that name sound familiar…?"

"He may have Akatsuki connections. He seemed to know Kakuzu, and he was wearing the uniform."

"Who is _Kakuzu_?"

"Kakuzu--he _was_ an Akatsuki member. From Takigakure. And Sasori, I think he was, too…" Seishirou said with something like awe. "Was Sasori--Did he have red hair?"

Hitomi nodded seriously. "But he was not older than mother or father, and they were both young during the Akatsuki's reign. And he claimed to have known me."

Ryo crossed his arms, tapping his sandal. He was glaring at nothing with a scowl on his face. Seishirou knew it to be his thinking pose, so he just mentally shrugged it off and turned back to his sister. "Why did you come across two Akatsuki members, Hitomi?"

"They were fighting when the woman found me," she replied blithely.

"_What_ woman?" Just how many people were in this forest?!

"I do not know who she was. She did not state her name, either. But she had long, purple hair and red markings. And she was apparently wearing Kakuzu's Akatsuki uniform. It was quite large on her."

"…I don't know about that woman, but there's something I've just realized," Ryo said slowly, looking back up at the pair. "Kisho said that you grew up in Amegakure. And we know that your parents may have known Akatsuki members. …Well, this proves it, doesn't it? If this Sasori guy knew Hitomi, he must either be spying on all of you or an Akatsuki member that your parents knew. And it would be why Hidan came to your house, too."

Hitomi nodded solemnly, as if unfazed by this news. Seishirou, however, felt like he'd been punched in the gut. His parents? Akatsuki connections? Laughable. Both of them were quiet and didn't associate much with other people (His father particularly). His sensei at the academy had once called his mother the 'tamest, most docile kunoichi in all of Kirigakure'. _They_ knew the _Akatsuki_?

Ryo continued, however. "In the academy, all we ever learned about the Akatsuki was what they supposedly looked like. No photos survived. We got descriptions, though. And some legends and fighting styles. Sasori was the puppeteer, wasn't he? And I know Hidan and Kakuzu were definitely both members; they were partners, too. And the books always, _always_ mentioned that several 'other ninja' commonly were seen with the Akatsuki members."

"You _can't_ be saying my parents--"

"There was the Rain Lord," Hitomi said seriously. Seishirou knew she was currently studying history in the academy--or had been--but he wasn't expecting her to start in on this. She couldn't. She knew their parents just as well as he did. They weren't the type to affiliate with the Akatsuki. No way. "She and the leader of the Akatsuki had a fight concerning her supposed body guard."

"The leader, his partner, Zetsu, the orange-mask one, Hidan and Kakuzu, Sasori and his partner, and Kisame and his partner." Ryo counted them off on his fingers. "I can't remember all of the names, but that would be the members. Two of them, at least, know your parents--and you." Seishirou shook his head, ponytail swinging. His teammate shot him a glare. "There's definitely a connection here, Sei. Even if you're too dumb to realize it."

"And what if there is?" he shot back, narrowing his eyes. "What is that going to change, huh?"

"I don't know. Maybe it means you have Akatsuki friends."

"Most of the members are dead."

"At least three of them are still alive," Hitomi pointed out unhelpfully. Seishirou spared her a withering look. "I think that Sasori's partner is still alive, as well."

The boys gave her blank stares. "…What?"

"He mentioned someone getting captured by the Nibi. And he is very obviously tracking the Bijuu, if he is all the way out here already. Who else would he bother rescuing?"

"That settles it." Ryo hit his fist against his other hand, nodding fiercely. "Your parents were in cahoots with the Akatsuki. _Four_ members here?"

"This Kakuzu guy was in the _forest_. Not anywhere near Kiri," Seishirou replied scathingly.

"He's still in the area." The black-haired genin shrugged. "We're going back to Kiri."

"What?"

"Why?" Hitomi added, tilting her head to one side. (Until she realized that this messed up her hair, and had to fix it once again.)

"You said your mother liked to take pictures, didn't you?" Ryo's dark eyes were glittering deviously. Seishirou nodded; he knew _all_ too well. "And who would pass up the opportunity to take pictures of the _Akatsuki_, huh?"

-.-.-

Next Chapter: The children make it back to Kirigakure to hunt up Akatsuki memories. Seishirou refuses to believe that his parents were in with the Akatsuki. Hitomi takes things more in stride. Sasori takes on the Bijuu, and afterward takes on the kids. He's sure in for a bad day... And what's this? Hidan, Hinata and Deidara just aren't going to get kidnapped without a fight!


	6. Escape

It took another day to get back to Kirigakure. By then, at least, Hitomi had made some small progress with the water-walking technique. She could stand if the water was very calm, and if she didn't move at all. At any rate, she was learning, but it still meant that the boys had to take turns carrying her over the water.

Kirigakure had then been put out; whether by nature or living people, it was difficult to tell. Not a lot of the damage was cleaned up, though, so the children were forced to assume it was the former. They trekked through the village with varying degrees of excitement back to their home.

Ryo was the first one in the still-open doorway. Hitomi followed him loyally, while Seishirou reluctantly brought up the rear. He still didn't think his parents knew the Akatsuki, even if all signs were pointing to his being wrong. He just didn't like the idea. It was too…bizarre. _But maybe…maybe it would explain my hair and eyes,_ he couldn't help but think.

"Mother's room is upstairs," Hitomi said, leading the way. Seishirou chose to stay in the darkened living room, sitting in one of the chairs. It seemed rather eerie, though, to stay downstairs alone, so he hastily followed Ryo up the stairs. It felt odd, passing his own room in favor of his parents', but he could shrug that off. It'd be the least odd thing he would do this week, probably.

Ryo was already lifting the mattress, searching for any pictures. Hitomi studied the pictures on the dresser and nightstand, then lifted one. Seishirou recognized it as the one his mother had called 'a younger her and her two best friends'. None of them were wearing Akatsuki uniforms, though.

"Does your mother have a safe or something she kept valuables in?" Ryo asked, setting the mattress back down.

"No."

"She always said that with three shinobi in the house, there was no need," Seishirou explained. He was slowly opening drawers, riffling through the contents. Now, back in his house, in his parents' room…he wondered where they were.

Immediately the grey-eyed genin felt guilty for not worrying about this earlier. Somehow, he just kept putting it off. But now he faced it head-on: his parents were either missing or dead. After all, they hadn't seen anyone else alive yet, not even from the safe house--_the safe house_! Seishirou's head snapped up. "Guys, we never went back to the safe house!"

"Hm?" Hitomi looked up from going through their father's shirts.

"What if--What if our parents are all there? What if that's where everyone is, and they're just waiting for-for something?" he asked excitedly, pathetically hopeful. But there had to be _some_ people there; not everyone had come to the village's 'defense' like they had. There was no way they could have been the only survivors.

"Let's just find those pictures," Ryo said dismissively. He bent down and looked under the bed. "Jackpot!" The Kiri genin crawled under the bed, coming back out on the other side with a large, dusty box.

The safe house was lost in the excitement of potentially finding something. Hitomi and Seishirou abandoned their searches and sat on the bed with Ryo, crowded around the box. With a flourish, he pulled the lid off, and they stared.

-.-.-

_What the hell was Kakuzu doing with that woman?!_ Sasori's thoughts lately had been continually straying back to his supposed ally. Kakuzu had _attacked_ him, though, and that woman had been wearing his uniform. It didn't take a genius to know something was going on. It was thanks to his genius that Sasori formed a good theory.

First, he knew that Hidan had somehow been separated from Kakuzu after 'fighting some bitch'. And there had long since been rumors of a very strong kunoichi haunting the eastern coast, picking off any stray ninja or civilians. So obviously, somehow this was that woman, and she had gotten Kakuzu's loyalty. Somehow. Possibly bribing him…but he wouldn't ditch Hidan _that_ easily, would he? And Hidan had said that they had _fought_ her…

_It's some sort of mind control_, Sasori surmised. Perfectly logical, especially considering he did the same thing to his subordinates. But it would have to have been one hell of a mental leash if she could get _Kakuzu_, of all people. He was one of the strongest-willed ninja the Suna-nin knew.

But that would have to wait for another time; that fight had thrown him off course, and also meeting with Hitomi and Seishirou again. Now he only had five days left to catch up with the Nibi, who undoubtedly pulled ahead of him quite a bit.

At least the kids had survived. Too bad their parents probably wouldn't.

-.-.-

"This is…a mask?" Ryo pulled the white mask out of the box, holding it up against the light. "ANBU mask… A rabbit. Old, too. Your father had a rabbit ANBU mask?" He couldn't resist a snort of laughter.

"I'm pretty sure it would have been my mother's. Dad said he never joined ANBU." Seishirou pulled out the next thing, a white, sword-like object. He tried to bend it, but while it seemed brittle and the edges were cracked, as if broken off, it didn't give in the least. "What is _this_?"

"Some kind of sword?" Ryo suggested, setting the mask down. "Is it sharp?"

Seishirou ran his finger along both edges. Both of them were sharp. Not sharp like a sword, but sharp enough to draw blood. "Yeah," he replied around his fingers, sucking on them to stop the bleeding.

"Idiot," Ryo said under his breath, digging into the box and withdrawing a hitai-ate. It wasn't a Kiri one, either. It had what appeared to be a leaf on it… "Is this the Konoha symbol? I thought your parents were from _Ame_…"

"The Byakugan originally came from Konohagakure," Hitomi recited. "Perhaps it is one of our grandparents'…?"

"There's another one in here, though." Unlike the first, which had navy fabric, this one had black fabric, and a score across the symbol. "…One for each of your parents?"

Seishirou rolled his eyes, taking his fingers out of his mouth. The taste of blood was starting to annoy him. "_Maybe_. Only maybe. It's not like it has a nametag on it. This stuff could belong to _anyone_."

Hitomi dipped into the box, coming back out with _another_ hitai-ate. This one had four vertical lines on it, and no line across. "…Ame symbol."

"Only one?"

Ryo looked in the box, shaking his head. "Only one. So we have two Konoha headbands, and one Ame one. And _no_ Kiri ones…"

"Dad wears his. Mother doesn't have one, though; she said she retired from being a kunoichi when Hitomi was born." Seishirou sighed, rubbing at his eyes. As he leaned over to look at the box's contents once more, he found what they had been searching for. Thick, dusty books. Two photo albums. Hitomi reached in and took one of them out, dusting it off with her kimono sleeve (and then she frowned at the dust as it wouldn't come off, and Seishirou had to physically stop her from stripping to try to remove it).

The first picture was the same one on the nightstand. Three kids, all of them grinning. It was their mother in the middle, much younger and blushing like mad. There was a blonde, rather flat-chested girl to her right, and a boy with silver hair and glasses to her left. The picture had been taken slightly crooked, but it only made it look better.

All three of them were wearing different headbands.

"Iwa, Konoha…what is this one?" Seishirou tapped the picture, right on the silver-haired ninja's head. A music note?

"Oto," Ryo replied seriously. "It was destroyed by an Akatsuki member before any of the others. And it was owned by an ex-Akatsuki member. _And_ this would explain one of the Konoha headbands… So the other must belong to your father."

Hitomi nodded as Seishirou scowled. She flipped the page, lightly running her fingers over the next picture. It was the blonde girl, again--or rather, blonde _boy_. Obviously he was a he, as he didn't have a shirt on. Seishirou squinted as he looked over her shoulder; that guy looked familiar, too. The blonde was posing, sticking his tongue and chest out, his long hair messed up and wearing nothing but his pants. The sleeping bag by his feet gave away the fact that he'd just woken up. "Who is this?" Hitomi asked.

"I… His name is Deidara."

"That name sounds familiar," Ryo mused.

The next picture was their mother again, younger and this time missing her Konoha headband. Instead, she had tied up her hair like her blonde friend and had apparently even gone as far as to borrow his scratched Iwa hitai-ate. She was smiling and rather red in the face, probably pressed into dressing like that for the picture.

"These are all just silly pictures she took of her friends. Obviously she just didn't want us to know that she had out-of-village friends," Seishirou scoffed, crossing his arms, though he couldn't help the uneasiness that was pooling in his stomach. That blonde, his stupid grin, it was too familiar.

The following photograph put even his doubts away.

It was of the blonde guy again. His hair was up and brushed this time, and he had his own headband back. And he had a serious expression on his face. He was posing, though, leaning against a tree, the dappled light on his body only highlighting what he was wearing.

An Akatsuki uniform.

"…Your mom's friend was an Akatsuki member. Deidara was an Akatsuki member," Ryo said breathlessly.

Hitomi silently turned the page, her white eyes staring blankly at the photos. Seishirou could only swallow, at a loss for words. What did you say when you found out your mother--possibly father, too--had connections to the group who brought about the end of the shinobi villages?

The next picture, again, had people wearing the uniform. This one, though, they immediately recognized a character from. Hoshigaki Kisame, the only Kiri-nin in the group. He was leaning on a shorter, black-haired ninja with a scratched Konoha headband, who was glaring evilly up at him.

They just kept flipping through pictures. Now that the Akatsuki connection was cemented, it was as if the kids couldn't get enough of this mysterious past. Here was a picture with that black-haired Konoha-nin again, looking like he'd been caught off guard by the camera. Then the blonde yet again, grinning broadly and holding up a white crane. The albino man, Hidan, covered in blood from head to foot and cackling. A photograph of their father, with his brown hair cut amazingly short, in full formal wear. He was wearing a scored Konoha headband.

"Your parents…came from Konoha. And lived in Ame. Now they're in Kiri. Why did they keep moving?" Ryo asked quietly, looking up at the two opposite him.

"Maybe they were refugees. Amegakure was supposedly a magnet for people fleeing their country," Hitomi said, eyes still on the photos under her fingers. She flipped the page, taking in the silver-haired boy again, looking much older and much more serious. Beside him, a redheaded Akatsuki member was scowling into the camera. Her breath hitched. "This is…This is Sasori. He has not aged a day…"

Seishirou hastily flipped the page. He was trying to ignore the fuzzy, half-formed memories that were suddenly coming back: A blonde with long hair that he accused of being girly, playing outside in the mud with a redhead, who had asked him if he was an artist…

There was a photograph of his mother, looking terrified, and the black-haired Konoha-nin glaring daggers at her. Behind him was the blonde Iwa-nin, ready to pounce on his unwary prey.

A pretty brunette girl with dark green eyes, smiling broadly. There was a black-haired boy standing beside her with his arms around her shoulders, winking at the camera. He had sharpened teeth: a Kiri-nin as well.

A picture of the blonde guy again, leaning down to plant a kiss on their mother's cheek. She was a brilliant shade of red in response to this.

A tired-looking woman with blue hair, a white flower in it for decoration. She, too, was wearing an Akatsuki uniform, but it seemed to be baggy on her.

"There aren't any of your mom wearing a uniform…?" Ryo said helpfully, digging in the box for the other photo album. Maybe that would have more recent pictures. Neither Seishirou or Hitomi replied to him. He sighed, but couldn't help feeling a bit awkward. He knew this was a lot to digest, but they didn't have to look so shell-shocked about it. "She must have been one of those 'other ninja' that hung around the Akatsuki…"

Sasori again, with Deidara. They were glaring daggers at each other, the blonde's mouth open in some sort of shout or snarl. Following that, a photograph of the two again, yet again in poses of dislike. And after that--the most bizarre picture yet: Obviously Deidara and Sasori, but they were both in _dresses_. Deidara's hair was even up in pigtails.

Hitomi laughed.

Seishirou blinked in surprise; Hitomi didn't just _laugh_. But she couldn't stop. Ryo, too, then started laughing, and Seishirou felt himself join in the laughter just to avoid the stress. The three kids collapsed on each other on a pile on top of the memories, laughing hysterically at what a crazy life that must have been.

The photo albums and the sword both fell onto the floor with thumps, the books falling open. The kids ignored it, still cackling like mad. None of them noticed the photographs that were pinned open by the fallen sword. One, a photo of the black-haired Konoha-nin holding Kisho. The other was of the blunette woman again, smiling vapidly, standing next to a ginger-haired man with many piercings and ringed, grey eyes.

Seishirou happened to flop over to the edge of the bed, kicking his legs in the air for how hard he was laughing. There wasn't even anything to laugh _at_, which somehow made it funnier. Hitomi fell on top of his stomach, giggling shrilly and for the moment, not caring if her kimono got rumpled or if her hair came out from behind her barrettes.

Just before he reopened his eyes, his arm, hanging limply over the edge, swept the photo albums under the bed.

The laughter subsided, slowly. None of the children spoke. Instead, they just breathed, trying to catch their breaths and digest some of the information they'd just gathered.

_So mom has Akatsuki friends…?_ Seishirou thought wonderingly, staring up at the ceiling. Hitomi was heavy on his stomach. He remembered vague things from their previous home. Deidara and Sasori had visited them; that much was certain. But how could his mother have kept something like _this_ from both her children? It seemed like such a big deal, and now they couldn't even ask her…

Seishirou stood up, rolling Hitomi off his lap. She huffed and hurriedly sat up, straightening her hair and kimono. There were too many questions still unanswered, and there was only one person who they could find. "We need to find Sasori."

"He is an Akatsuki-nin and has a day on us right now. It'd take us another day to reach the mainland again, and then he has _two_ days on us. We don't even know where they're going," Ryo complained, but he stood up as well. Seishirou knew his teammate would stand by him in this decision, even if he needed to work out the details first.

"He is following the Nibi. We merely need to follow it, too." Hitomi combed through her black hair with her fingers, sticking her tongue out in concentration. Then, picking up her stuffed chicken, she leaned over the edge of the bed to retrieve the discarded photo albums and odd, white sword. She grabbed the white thing's handle and used it to fish the two books out, closing them in the process.

"He still has a lead on us…" Ryo said warningly.

"He'll reach his destination eventually. Or get caught up fighting the Nibi. We'll catch up _eventually_." Seishirou would have no excuses for not following him. He would be their only lead, their only source of answers, unless they could figure out where their parents were.

Seishirou picked one of the photo albums up from his sister's hands. Flipping it open, he noted that this was the older one. He pulled a few of the pictures out, tossing them on a bed. "Come on, we might need some of these later…" For identification, or, perhaps, even to help prove that they needed this information.

Ryo grabbed the other book as Hitomi slid off of the bed, readjusting her kimono. He, likewise, pulled out a few important-looking pictures, tossing them into the pile. He didn't look at too many of the pages, just selecting those from the very beginning and ending. "Are we going to take that sword-thing?"

"Sure, why not?" Seishirou replied without looking up.

Once they were done ransacking their mother's memories, the children dumped the rest in the box and placed it back under the bed, just in case (of what, they had no clue). Hitomi had taken her old traveling bag from her room and, as it was the least full of the three, stored the photographs carefully in one of the pockets. Her stuffed chicken went in next. "…Shall we go, Seishirou?"

Seishirou grinned and took her hand. "Yeah."

Ryo cleared his throat, shouldering his backpack. "This Sasori-san still has a lead on us. Can we _go_ now?"

-.-.-

Hitomi couldn't help but notice the tense air in which they traveled in now. Once he got an idea into his head, Seishirou would pursue it, mind and body. He was probably obsessing over these Akatsuki connections, but what could she do to help him? Sasori was the only one who could at this point. Ryo wasn't sure what to say, either, about this newfound knowledge, so he usually kept to himself, and Hitomi wasn't going to start a conversation.

So she threw herself into her training. She'd noticed Ryo doing a few exercises or warm-ups during their breaks and before they went to sleep at night, and somehow had gathered the courage to ask him to help her with the same things. Most of it was basic, like stretches or push-ups, and she didn't quite like those. But they _did_ help her chakra control, too. And halfway to the mainland, she finally picked up how to use the water-walking technique.

Granted, she was wobbly at first and fell into the sea quite a few times, but by the time they reached the coast, she was running on the waves, just like they were. It helped the stress levels, but only a little.

They came in on a section of beach much farther south than before, so they noticed something rather obvious that they hadn't earlier.

There was a wide swath of land, burned and blackened. A distinguished set of paw prints were darker than the rest of the trail. This was where the Nibi had come.

Hitomi tried to straighten her salt-stiff kimono as they traveled, but that was difficult. Even more so when they got to the forests and traveled through the trees. That was difficult, too. Though it took awhile, she did get the hang of it without falling. Actually using the techniques taught her much faster than learning about them in books, that was for sure.

They didn't see anyone. No mysterious purple-haired woman, and no Akatsuki members. That was probably a good thing, though. Hitomi didn't feel the need for more complications. She already had to deal with her messy hair and messy clothes, and her backpack was heavy, too. She couldn't fight, and Seishirou and Ryo were only genin. The wilderness, they could probably face. But not Akatsuki members.

Then, on the second day of their land-based journey, they came across someone.

-.-.-

Sasori had forgotten one key detail in his plan: the Sanbi.

And, just because the Nibi had wanted to keep an eye on the three-tailed demon and the foul-mouthed immortal in its jaws, they had traveled together. The great turtle made their progress painfully slow.

So Sasori caught up with them much sooner than he would have otherwise imagined. He had pretty much given up hope, actually, of catching the Bijuu. They had a head start and were probably faster. So he was _very_ surprised when, as he came out of the forest that had been amazingly dense since the edge of the eastern coast, he saw two hulking masses in the distance. One of them was radiating heat, creating a shimmer around them. And the trail they were leaving was still smoldering.

He hadn't expected to actually _do_ anything, and now he had the chance. But what chance did a lone Akatsuki member have against two demons? Although… _It's not just myself. If I can free Deidara, or Hidan, or even Hinata, they will help_, he told himself.

He waited until dusk to sneak up on them. It actually wasn't that hard to do so. The Nibi had a constant hiss of fire around its body, and both demons seemed to be conversing lowly as they settled down for the night. Sasori had to admit he was a bit surprised by this; he hadn't expected them to stop so soon.

He already had two puppets out, following him: The Sandaime and the Copy-nin. Electricity had proved itself to be useful against the Sanbi, at least, and he could only hope that the iron sand would do something about the Nibi's flames. He wasn't exactly thinking at his clearest right then, due to the gravity and stress of the situation, otherwise Sasori probably would have spent at least an hour planning out some elaborate fool-proof strategy.

But Sasori wasn't thinking too rationally. He could only concentrate on saving Deidara. The scariest thing was that he realized he was rushing into this with a half-assed plan, and didn't do a thing about it.

Maybe that was why things turned out so horribly.

He never even made it to the demons. The Sanbi caught him a hundred meters out with a scaly tail, throwing him back the way he came. Then the Nibi pounced on him--even from that distance--soared through the air with tails of flame and landed squarely on him. "We know you can't seal someone inside _your_ body," the cat hissed, its teeth close enough to scrape against his jaw. The Nibi pushed downward, digging him into the solid rock below. "So we'll just dispose of you now."

-.-.-

Sasori awoke to bright sun. Which was quickly covered as someone with large, white eyes leaned over him, their face inches from his. He groaned, closing his eyes again. "Hime, go bug Deidara…" Sasori whined, rolling over.

"Deidara has been kidnapped, has he not?"

That sure woke Sasori up.

This wasn't what he had been expecting--or rather, hoping for. Instead, he was tied up (somewhat sloppily) and was seated against a tree, with three children standing around him, looking down at him with varying degrees of anger. He could have gotten out of the ropes in a heartbeat (if his heart even beat anymore), but Sasori was a bit too surprised to care. That was generally what happened when the Rinnegan was staring at you with the intent of wishing you a violent death.

Sasori hadn't seen the kid for years. Almost a decade. Aside from saving his ass in Kirigakure, but that had been a coincidence, and he had only stopped both him and his evil-looking teammate because he had happened to be traveling in the same direction and thought he'd lighten his karmic load a bit. So he hadn't really seen Seishirou for a long time. Or interacted with him to any degree.

"You almost got killed, you idiot! What were we supposed to do then?!" the ginger-haired kid--who looked a bit too much like Pein for Sasori to be completely comfortable with this situation--demanded harshly.

"How should I know?" Sasori snapped in reply, scowling. "You're the idiots who think they can keep me tied up--"

"You should be lucky you're not dead, Sasori-san," the evil-looking, black-haired one said. The redhead chuckled at the irony of that. "Now, if you don't mind, we have a few questions we'd like to ask you…"

"About our parents," Hitomi added.

"Hinata-hime? She was just caught by the Bijuu. I have no idea where your father would be."

"…For her Akatsuki connections? Was she taken because of that?" Seishirou was suddenly in his face, kneeling down and peering at him intently.

Yeah, right. He wasn't going to get into that now. Who knew what can of worms that would open?

Instead of answering, Sasori stood up, and leapt up into the tree above him, arms still bound. "Stay away from me," he growled, and darted off. He knew that a couple of genin couldn't catch him, especially if he was _trying_ to get away. He didn't bother thanking them for saving his life and dragging him back several kilometers the way he'd just come. Sasori just wanted to find the Nibi again.

-.-.-

Ryo had moved to follow Sasori, but Seishirou held him back. "No…we can't catch him now. It's enough that he knows we're in the vicinity. We'll catch up to him eventually, right?"

"If you say so…" the black-haired boy replied grudgingly. He sighed, and then reached back to tighten the knot of his hitai-ate. "He definitely didn't seem to grateful that we found him out there, did he?"

"Most certainly not," Hitomi said firmly, shaking her head. "He seemed rather cranky to me. …But he called mother 'princess'…"

"Think she read him fairytales, too?" Seishirou asked with a snort. She giggled in response.

"So…now what?" Ryo interrupted the happy scene, planting his fists on his hips. "We have an old trail and now an Akatsuki member who probably will kill us if we try to follow him. Not to mention the two Bijuu."

"…They have our parents," she said quietly, interlocking her fingers with Seishirou's. "I miss them."

"Let's follow Sasori-san. He'll fight the Bijuu for us, and afterward we can see if we can get some answers." He started walking, pulling Hitomi along behind him. Ryo sighed again, and just folded his hands behind his head, following them.

The days passed excruciatingly slowly. The children were all unaware of the time limit Sasori had set on their parents' (and Deidara's) lives, so they took their time, traveling slowly westward, following the scorched trail left by the Nibi.

-.-.-

"Don't humans have to eat?" Nekomata asked, casually. She had been wondering that for some time. Even the Bijuu had to eat occasionally, but meals were usually just a human or two. Maybe large animals. She didn't know how often humans had to eat before they died.

"They'll probably die of dehydration before that becomes a problem," Isonade replied simply. The Nibi blanched, ears pinned against her skull. That was _not_ good! She couldn't have two of the bodies she captured just _die_ on her!

"Well then, what are you waiting for! Hydrate them, you overgrown tortoise!" she screeched, instantly dropping the two humans held in her tails. They weren't exactly quick to get back up, but she supposed that they _were_ tired and hurt. She made a note to get someone to heal them or something before the sealing took place.

"And I'm just supposed to cough up a _lake_? We're in the _desert_!" the Sanbi snorted. She merely replied by giving him a look that said quite clearly what she thought he should do. He sighed, and obediently dropped the immortal by the other two humans, and then proceeded to cough up a lake in the middle of the desert.

Nekomata batted the three humans into the shallow water, careful to keep her paws dry. She watched in amusement as they floundered for a few moments, and then gratefully set about to drinking. Who said she was a bad kitty? However, the Nibi kept careful watch on all three of them, just in case they were stupid enough to attempt to escape. Weakened they might've been, they were all ninja, and high-level at that. She wouldn't let three nice bodies get away from her now. These three were invaluable right now. They would gain her favor with Youko--and even better, maybe she could manage to give one of them to Shukaku! The feline's tails quivered with pleasure at the mere thought.

"What are you going to feed them?" Isonade jarred her out of her thoughts, sitting down beside her. Oh yeah, he was still there, too. She had promised him the immortal, hadn't she? Maybe he'd settle for the blonde one…or maybe Shukaku wouldn't mind that one.

"I don't know. Humans, what do you want to eat?" she asked politely, rotating her ears forward to hear their answer. It was always somewhat difficult to hear little humans' voices…

"…" None of them replied immediately. The three looked at one another, unsure of what to make of the question.

She sighed, rolling her eyes. Figures. She tried to be nice to the bodies and they just stared at her. "Never mind. Isonade, just watch them. If they escape, it'll be on _your_ head. I'm gonna go find something for them to eat…"

"Do you even know what they eat?"

"I don't know. But there's not a lot to pick from in a desert, so maybe just a bird or cactus or something. …We could always let them forage."

"Are you going to get leashes for them as well?" the Sanbi inquired with a smirk.

The three shinobi suddenly scattered, predictably heading in different directions. One of them, the Sanbi immediately caught in a tail, but the other two, the Nibi had to hunt down. She knew that they couldn't possibly hope to properly outrun them, especially with no cover. So their only choice was to hide. And she took even that away--the sparse sand dunes--by bathing the area in fire.

She found the immortal half encased in glass, trying to chip his way out with a kunai. Nekomata graciously freed him with a sweep of her claws. "I_so_nade," she whined, picking the immortal body up with a tail, "I don't think these humans are pleased that we're letting them have food. Maybe we shouldn't give them any."

"Sounds acceptable. If they have this much energy, they obviously don't need any more."

A shadow flew overhead. Both Bijuu looked up furiously at the departing clay bird. And then both Bijuu promptly tore after him, not willing to give up their ticket to Youko's good books.

-.-.-

Sasori was working on wiggling out of his bindings when a shadow passed overhead. He instinctively looked up; he _knew_ that shadow. But the puppeteer still couldn't believe it when he saw the disappearing clay bird.

Freedom forgotten, he hastily scrambled back to his feet, jumping into the nearest tree. He knew he could keep up with Deidara on foot, but the problem was trying to catch his attention.

If he was flying that quickly, and apparently alone, Sasori knew he had to have somehow escaped from the Bijuu. And was fleeing from them now. He didn't know how far behind the demons were, but it couldn't be that far.

Eventually, they'd run out of forest, heading in this direction. Then Deidara would see him. But the problem was whether or not the demons would catch up before that happened. In the distance behind him, he heard a yowl. It wasn't nearly far enough behind for Sasori to be comfortable with it.

_I hope those stupid kids get out of here before they're all killed_. But surely even they wouldn't be stupid enough to take on the demons, right? …_Right_?

However, Sasori had a lucky break. With his wooden body, he wouldn't run out of breath. He could continue running at top speed, following his partner just half a kilometer behind. Whereas even the great tailed beasts would slow as their lungs struggled to keep up with their bodies.

Then he saw the bird start to descend.

The Bijuu were catching up.

Sasori mentally tried to calculate who would reach Deidara first. Most likely him. Thank the gods.

The bird finally dropped under the cover of the treetops, and Sasori jumped down onto the ground to continue his pursuit. Behind him, he could hear the Bijuu growling and snarling at each other. Then--there! The redhead saw the mass of off-white.

Sasori skidded into the small clearing, the crow turning to fix a hollow-eyed stare on him. There was no passenger.

Sasori gaped at the animated clay for a full minute. Of course, of _course_, why had he expected Deidara to be so stupid? The bird was merely a distraction. Deidara had _used_ this technique before, and _against_ Sasori! He cursed himself for being so desperate as to chase a master-less bird. He couldn't help but laugh, though.

So the two Bijuu, Hinata and Hidan wrapped in their tails, caught up with him to find nothing but a hysterical redhead and a clay bird.

-.-.-

Deidara took a deep breath, peering up over the dune of glass. So the trick had worked. Awesome. _Even the Bijuu can be deceived, then we might stand a chance after all_, he thought gleefully. However, this was only one phase of his grand escape plan. He still needed to save his princess, didn't he? It might be a good idea to spring Hidan, too. The Bijuu didn't need an immortal Jinchuuriki to play with.

He got to his feet, dusting himself off; not that there was anything _to_ dust off, but he needed something to do with his hands. That bird had been the last of his clay, and already the mouths on his palms were hungry for more. They'd just have to suck it up, though, until he could find a suitable river.

"…I'll catch up with you guys later. I'll come back, Bya-chan, yeah," Deidara muttered to no one in particular, looking around him to get his bearings. Nothing but sand. And the Sanbi-created pond and glass _everywhere_. But still mostly sand. Looks like he'd have to try to walk back the way they came and hope the Bijuu didn't double back by that exact route.

-.-.-

Next Chapter: The kids find Sasori once more, and this time, they aren't so quick to let him get away. Sasori finds he's much more attached to his old group than he formerly thought, and as a result, it means he has three children following him! Meanwhile, the Bijuu reach their destination, with Deidara hot on their heels. Where is this destination of theirs? Why does it have Hidan so riled up?


	7. Patience Is Tested

Sasori, once again, woke up to large, white eyes in his face. Lovely, so the little runts had found him again. How the _hell_ was he still alive after a _second_ Bijuu attack? Third, actually, now that he thought about it a bit. He _wasn't_ really immortal, he knew that. But unless some god--Jashin or Pein or some other self-righteous deity--was perpetually smiling on him, Sasori didn't know what to make of it.

He just decided to chalk it up to carelessness and stupidity on the Bijuu's part. After all, they ought to have known that they could not drown, suffocate or crush him. (Crush, technically yes, but they had been going about it all wrong.) Sasori wouldn't let himself get in that situation again.

Deidara was out there. Apparently safe from the Bijuu…for now. He would have to reunite with his partner, then. Sasori would have to stay alive until then, and that would require not rushing into things headlong like an overexcited genin.

Speaking of genin…

"_How_ do you keep on finding me?" Sasori snarled, turning to level a glare in the black-haired one's direction.

"With the Bijuu howling like savage dogs in your area? And your hair color? It wasn't that hard," the boy replied flippantly. "And this time, you're not getting away, either."

Sasori rolled his eyes. Oh, great. Now he was getting threatened by a couple of genin. What ever could he possibly do to combat this danger? Again, he jumped to his feet, and again nearly hit Hitomi. Not like he cared. They hadn't even bothered tying his feet, for god's sake! What _was_ Kirigakure teaching their genin…?! "I already told you, and this will be the last time I say it civilly. Stay the hell away from me, you brats." Those were his departing words as he jumped up into a tree and disappeared.

Unlike last time, none of them moved in the slightest to pursue him.

The answer soon became apparent. Sasori hadn't made it a hundred meters before he suddenly felt incredibly dizzy and missed a jump, falling onto the grass below. His mind was screaming at him to vomit, even if his body hadn't done any such thing for decades now. "What…the hell…"

Five minutes later--they were sure taking their time now, weren't they?--the trio of brats caught up with him again.

They just stood around him; the boys' arms were crossed. Hitomi fidgeted in her kimono. Sasori was face-down on the ground, and it seemed like a gargantuan feat to just move his head to where he could glare at one of them. It turned out to be the evil-looking black-haired one. He tried to move his arms, but they felt like lead. So Sasori returned to merely glaring at the black-haired genin, hoping that he'd keel over just from the intensity of it.

Then Sasori noticed the syringe in his hand.

"Oh, yes, we _know_ what you are, Sasori-san," the boy said loudly, tilting his chin back. Sasori snarled mutely at him. "No wonder you look like a kid."

"You--"

Seishirou kicked him rudely in the back of the head. "Shut up, we're the ones talking here." It seemed as if he inherited Konan's temper and view on conversation.

Sasori didn't miss the look the black-haired one shot him. He might have to use that against them later, if there was dissention in the ranks already… But more importantly, he couldn't help thinking about how _stupid_ he'd been this past week. It was his own fault for most of it, he knew, but he couldn't help but vindictively blame Deidara. After all, it was his partner who'd gotten kidnapped and took Sasori's logic and usual thinking processes along with him.

_So these kids know? As if; they won't know what to _do_ with the information, thank god_, he thought dryly, glaring up at the black-haired one. _But…that doesn't explain…_

The black-haired one--Sasori made a mental note to find out the brat's name--knelt down and placed a hand on Sasori's head, ruffling his hair. He couldn't help but scowl; only Deidara could do that without getting a hand broken for his effort. If only he could have moved, this kid would have been on the ground, bleeding, by now. Regardless of the sudden killer intent, the black-haired genin waved a nearly-empty syringe in front of Sasori's brown eyes. A few yellow-orange drops clung to the bottom of it, one of them dripping out of the needle.

Then Sasori realized what these kids had done.

"Before you start shouting," the black-haired one said flatly, tapping the needle against the Akatsuki member's temple, "Let us explain."

"We need information." Hitomi spoke up for the first time, not looking at him. She raised a hand, letting the overly large sleeve slip down to her elbow, and then shrugged off her backpack, rummaging in in for a few moments. She withdrew a photograph.

He sat up, making sure they all knew full well that he was mobile once more, even if he was still tied up. Sasori kept his emotionless mask in place as he looked at the item Hitomi was holding out. It was a photograph. The one Hinata had snapped of Seishirou pulling on his hair. Sasori didn't fail to notice that she had several more in her other hand.

He stood up, sighing. The black-haired kid also stood up, tapping the syringe against his wrist. Sasori looked at all three of the idiotic children, amazed at their unadulterated stupidity. "…You are all idiots," he told them without preamble. Might as well let them know how much he thought of them right then. "You have managed to temporarily drug an Akatsuki member--which, before you, had never happened before--and now you haven't even made the connection."

Sasori himself was even a bit surprised at this, but he allowed himself the luxury of thinking he'd overestimated them all. They had not only figured out what his body was made of, but how to work around that in order to drug him. He had vaguely made theories about such a thing, but, of course, he had never bothered testing any of them. His human heart was still biological and living; it could still be drugged. He supposed he was just lucky they had used a small amount of his own poison in order to take him out. Any larger dose and he probably would have died. He made a note to keep any extra poisons on his body more carefully concealed from now on.

The redhead jumped up into the nearest tree, twitching his fingers to make the blades come out of his shoulders. They cut through the rope binding him effortlessly. He then stood up, and pointed down at the children. "You're lucky I don't kill you all right now."

"You're too arrogant to. You hate the fact that we beat your little wooden body and want to kill us badly, but you won't allow yourself to, because then you'll only drive home the point that a _couple of kids_ beat you," the black-haired one replied with a smirk.

Sasori decided he didn't like him anymore. "Why are _you_ even here? You're just a pathetic little genin without even the dignity of noble roots like those two brats," he hissed, narrowing his eyes.

He just held up the syringe. "I still beat you, Sasori-san."

"We still need answers," Hitomi spoke up forcefully, sparing him a disdainful look. "Sasori is the only one who can supply them."

"Yeah, he is. So time for a Q & A!" Seishirou plucked a photo at random from her hands, and showed Sasori, after sparing it a glance. "This is a photograph of my--our--parents. You, that blonde, and…and Kisho and a bird."

"Yes, it is. His name is Deidara."

"I know that!" he spat, bristling. Sasori raised an eyebrow, wondering if he should use this temper problem against him. "But what the hell does it mean?!"

"Deidara and Hinata-hime were best friends," Sasori replied dryly, looking up at the sun filtering through the leaves. It was better than watching a kid make a fool out of himself. "Neji and I…got along, for the most part. I don't think he ever forgave me for the tournament, however…"

"They were not part of the Akatsuki?" Hitomi asked. Her voice was soft, but none of them missed the anxiety in it.

"At one point, I think your mother might have made it in…" Sasori left off for a moment, closing his eyes. Actually, several times Hinata might have gotten in, purely because she worked well with Deidara and he would vouch for her. Unfortunately, that stupid blonde seemed to have problems letting Sasori go off and merrily kill himself. "But neither of them were official members."

Hitomi sighed in relief, smiling weakly. Sasori couldn't help but laugh at her. He remembered a time when anyone--Midori came to mind--would have given their left arm to get into the Akatsuki. And now, a generation later, these kids were _glad_ their parents hadn't made the cut. Oh, how the mighty had fallen. "But… You and Deidara were both still their friends. What of the rest of the Akatsuki?"

"What about them?" he asked innocently. He didn't know how much these kids knew, so it wouldn't hurt to try to glean a bit of information from then before he gave any in return.

Hitomi pulled out another photograph, showing it to him. "Who is this member?" It was the picture of Itachi holding Kisho.

"Uchiha Itachi. You may know of him as Kisame's partner?"

"So Kisho belonged to an Akatsuki member previously… Does Itachi have to specifically summon him again, or could any summoner?"

"Any _cat_ summoner. But Itachi is dead."

"We never got a list of the dead Akatsuki-nin. The academy teachers were vague on that," Seishirou said flatly. "Who all is dead?"

He had seen this question coming. Sasori smirked, wondering what kind of reaction he'd get. "Itachi, Kisame, Tobi, Leader-sama and Konan are all deceased." There was no flicker of recognition in the ginger-haired genin's eyes. Pity; he had been looking forward to some sort of outburst he could use as a cover to escape. He hung his head in disappointment. "Half the organization."

"And they were all killed by the Bijuu?" asked Hitomi.

"No--Itachi was killed by his younger brother, Sasuke."

"Your partner. Deidara. You say he was _kidnapped _by the Bijuu?" Seishirou demanded. He raised his eyes to glare at the Akatsuki member in the tree, accusingly. "Why would the Bijuu capture him _alive_? You make it sound as if they're pretty excited about picking off the rest of the Akatsuki."

"They are. But they captured him to use as their new body, of course."

This was something new to the kids. Sasori rolled his eyes again, exhaling loudly. "Before the last Great Shinobi War and the Bijuu catastrophe, the demons were sealed inside people called Jinchuuriki. Sealed from birth, so that their power supposedly would meld into their hosts' chakra and they would die along with their host. …Needless to say, the Akatsuki screwed up that plan quite well," he recited blandly.

"To say the least," Ryo growled in agreement. "So these Bijuu aren't out for revenge--?"

"Revenge in the best possible way. To take the remaining Akatsuki members for their new bodies, their new weapons. That's how the Bijuu view human hosts." Sasori smiled thinly. "And now, because of that horrible Kirigakure incident, they may very well have three bodies to use."

"Deidara…" Hitomi said, counting off on her fingers. "And…" She couldn't finish.

"Your mother and Hidan," Sasori supplied. She nodded gravely.

"What about father?" she asked faintly. "Where is he, then…?"

Sasori looked thoughtful. "…If I would have to guess, I'd say farther than we are right now. He's about as fast as an Akatsuki-nin, and generally uses his head more than one, too."

"Does he even stand a chance against them? I mean, you were beaten into the ground twice by them and you're wood." Ryo gestured at the redhead. Hitomi gave a small sniff, fidgeting again.

"He's not stupid enough to go rushing in headfirst."

"Like you?"

He narrowed his eyes. "I should kill you," he said simply. "I've been kind enough to disillusion you all this far, but I don't see why that sympathy should last any longer." Sasori raised his arm, palm out towards the three below him. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you all right now. Surely it would be considered a mercy killing; you all won't last another week out here on your own."

None of them looked at each other, because it was obvious that he was serious. Seishirou and Ryo were having a glaring contest with the Akatsuki member, whereas Hitomi was ignoring the general tension of the situation and was rummaging around in her backpack. After several minutes of awkward, edgy silence, she withdrew the stuffed chicken Seishirou had given to her for her first birthday. She held it out to Sasori. "Deidara gave this to Seishirou when he was a child. That means that he cared about Seishirou, and would you like to upset him by murdering the child he cares about?"

The details were a bit warped, but in essence, she had it right. Sasori reluctantly lowered his arm. It wasn't as if he was getting soft, and it wasn't as if he minded killing defenseless children. He just hated the idea of doing something like that against Deidara. Or even Hinata. It wasn't even that; he just didn't like the idea of killing the last remnants of the old Akatsuki.

-.-.-

_**One Week Later…**_

"Will you _stop following me_?"

"Why are you slowing down enough for us to follow you then?" Ryo challenged. Sasori rolled his eyes, swinging down from the branch he'd just landed on. He turned to face them, arms crossed. Ryo glared defiantly back, daring him to contradict him.

Seishirou just folded his hands behind his head, looking up at the sky through the leaves. Those two had gotten into the habit of acting like that. He had a feeling that Sasori hadn't killed Ryo yet because he needed to argue with someone; maybe he was filling the role of Deidara or some other lost friend of his. And Ryo? He just liked arguing with people.

Lately, Sasori had been on edge. It was obvious to even Hitomi, which meant that it was probably serious. But whenever he was questioned about it, the Akatsuki member would viciously say that it was nothing, and probably aim some sort of attack at them. The upside was that they were all very good at dodging high-speed attacks now.

"There's a village up ahead. You kids can just wait there."

"Wait? For _what_? You to go get your ass handed to you again by the Bijuu?"

Hitomi grumpily sighed, trying to ignore the argument. Seishirou felt a stab of pity for his sister; she was faring the worst. She wasn't used to traveling this fast, nor was she used to surviving off of the land like a ninja. Moreover, he knew what kind of care she normally had for her hair and clothes. Now, she just looked…rumpled. That was the kindest word for it.

"Reconnaissance, you ignorant genin! You think I can find _anything_ with you three tramping in the forest behind me, alerting everything in a kilometer radius?!" Sasori snarled. He and Ryo were now inches apart, barely short of shouting in each other's faces.

"You're tracking the _Bijuu_! They're days ahead of us and they wouldn't even notice--"

"He is also keeping an eye out for Kakuzu," Hitomi said in a clipped tone. "We may have come quite far, but he is unsure of where he could be."

Sasori bit off a sigh, running a hand through his hair. "You stupid genin are staying at this village. Get some food and for god's sake _bathe_. I've never been more glad that I don't have a sense of smell anymore."

With that order, Sasori had just become a hero in Hitomi's eyes.

-.-.-

"What _is_ this place, yeah…?" Deidara pulled off his hood, peering around the edge of the rock. They were in Iwa territory (or what _had_ been Iwa territory), but this was a place he was unfamiliar with. It almost seemed like a natural castle.

Except for the fact that it was crawling with demons.

Deidara had had to put all of his stealth skills to the test to even make it this far. And he was still a good half kilometer from the structure itself. The Hachibi was pacing outside of what seemed like the main entrance, grumbling to itself. The Yonbi was perched on the top of it, curled up and apparently napping. An hour earlier, he had seen the Sanbi and Nibi--Hidan and Hinata with them--disappear inside.

_So this is their hideout,_ he noted, zooming in with the scope on his eye. _…Interesting pick. I wonder what it's like inside_… And, of course, with his insatiable curiosity and drive to rescue Hinata, Deidara _knew_ he was getting in that building that night. He just had to wait for the opportune moment.

-.-.-

Inside the vast, fort-like building, Hidan and Hinata had been thrown unceremoniously into a holding cell. Which puzzled her; sure, they were all-powerful demons, but how could they have _honestly_ had the foresight to make _jail cells_ for _humans_?

"Oh my _fucking Jashin_. Jashin-sama, oh shit, they didn't!" Hidan jumped back up to his feet, looking around him wildly.

Hinata regarded him flatly. Was the shock of his capture only now setting in? "What are you going on about…?" she asked wearily as he continued his rant. She only did it to get him to stop swearing and repeating himself. Mostly, she just wanted to hope her children were okay…

"This was a fuckin' Akatsuki base! How dare those heathen shitheads use _this_ place of all places!" he roared, grabbing the cell's bars and yanking hard on them. They didn't budge.

Hinata looked around the cell wonderingly. Well, that would explain part of the mystery. And it came with a bit of irony, too. "But…your first base was located in Ame."

"Bullshit it was. We moved bases, like, every month or something before the fag joined up and we captured Amegakure. This was one of them farther west. The one right _before_ he joined, in fact. First one I ever visited."

"So then, can you get out of here?"

Hidan turned on her. "Are you kidding me?! Kakuzu would throw me in here like every damn day if I even mentioned Jashin-sama--of course I do!"

Then one of the demons walked by and laid down right in front of the cell door, throwing them into darkness.

"And now I can't," the immortal said flatly.

-.-.-

"Stupid Nekomata…thinking she's better than me all of a sudden…stupid cat…" the Sanbi muttered to himself, crossing his forepaws. He was sent to guard duty while Youko and Kaku put the Nibi up on a pedestal she didn't deserve. After all, where would she be if _he_ hadn't arrived to help her? Still stuck on the coast, that was where! And completely human-less, too. _He_ should have been the hero, not that conceited feline.

Isonade set his chin on his folded paws, sighing. Oh well; whining would get him nowhere. At least she had promised to give him the immortal body. But, thinking on that, he actually doubted it. There was no way Youko or Hachimata would allow _him_ the immortal one, especially as it was the only immortal they'd caught so far. No doubt either the Kyuubi or Hachibi would get it. But then again, they had two bodies for sure, and Nekomata was _positive_ the third would come back to them to try to rescue the others. So three bodies--he had a one-third chance of receiving one. He _had_ helped capture them… The immortal would go to one of the higher-ups, and he and Nekomata would receive the other two. The Sanbi decided he could live with that.

Now all that was left to be decided is _how_ they would go about this.

After Houkou's debacle, the remaining Bijuu were much more cautious when sealing and how they would control their bodies. There had been some speculation among the group about whether or not to seal with the next humans captured, or wait until they had enough for _everyone_ to get their weapon. Isonade snorted, closing his eyes. Hopefully it would be the former of the two choices. He didn't fancy waiting for another five bodies to be found. It was hard enough getting these three.

Just like that, the Bijuu fell asleep, thinking of the (hopefully soon) day he would receive his first Jinchuuriki.

-.-.-

Deidara stole to the edge of the structure, pressing himself against the wall. Luckily, his dark cloak provided some camouflage. And a black, hooded jacket overtop didn't hurt, either. (Sasori had _always_ pointed out how his bright blonde hair was a giveaway at night.)

The previously pacing Hachibi had stopped moving awhile ago. Deidara couldn't help but hope that the demon had fallen asleep. Demons had to sleep too, didn't they? At least, he sure hoped so… There was only a sliver of moon, and it was probably the darkest the night was going to get. Now was his best chance at getting into the building.

Of course, getting in would be the easy part. Getting out would be tougher. He had circled around the building a few times on foot and had a vague idea of what the inner rooms might be like, but he was essentially going in blind. Something he _hated_. He might be unprepared in most circumstances, but he never liked a lack of knowledge.

He tiptoed around the corner of the building, creeping in through one of the windows. Of course, there were no lights; either the Bijuu had night vision (he hoped not), they couldn't work the electric switches, or they were all asleep. He couldn't even begin to expect the last one, so he just figured they were all in the dark. For some reason. Whatever worked. It only helped him in the long run.

Thank the gods he had night vision in his scope, and it didn't hurt that he was an Akatsuki member. That title came with a certain amount of skill, such as excellent natural night vision.

Deidara snuck out of the room, into a vast hallway. He didn't know if it had been like that originally or modified later on, but it was definitely big enough for any of the Bijuu to walk around in. _Just what had this place been?_

He walked casually down the hall, completely silent. His blue eyes took in everything around him (like any good ninja should). There was a room, another hallway leading off southward, a hallway leading off to the north, there was another room… But no Bijuu. Luck, or a trap? He had seen two of them outside, but there should've still been seven more.

Then he rounded a corner and found just what he was looking for.

And nearly ran into it, too.

He halted not a meter from the demon's snout, absolutely frozen when he figured out what he'd just done. Deidara had just turned the corner and almost managed to run _into_ a giant turtle. He knew, somewhere, that Sasori was laughing at him.

The beast gave a great snore.

He nearly jumped out of his skin, but relaxed a moment later when he noticed that the Sanbi's eyes were closed. _Is this thing _honestly _sleeping?_ he asked himself, resisting the urge to nudge it. If it was, then it was a lucky break for him. If it wasn't, it would already know he was here, anyway.

So they just let demons sleep in random hallways? Odd. Deidara cautiously tiptoed around it, keeping an eye out for any sudden movements on the Bijuu's behalf. None whatsoever. Its paws were under its belly and chin, and its three tails were wrapped around its shell, so it was practically harmless (aside from the raw chakra it was giving off in waves--that made Deidara a bit dizzy).

But why would it just lay down in _this_ hallway? It was rather well-lit--dismissing his earlier theory that the Bijuu couldn't use lights--and it would only be in the way here. Why not go back to a darker, more secluded room? Deidara pondered this as he circled the Sanbi again. It was pressed up against the wall rather firmly…was it guarding something? A door? And there was only one thing he could think of that would be worth guarding for a tailed demon.

Humans.

-.-.-

Next Chapter: "A Deidara Chapter"! Deidara's infiltration leads him to Hinata and Hidan, but not without turning a few heads. After some fancy footwork, he manages to spring them, but for how long can they remain free in a base full of demons?


	8. A Deidara Chapter

"Oh, yes, you can _definitely_ have one of them I found," the Nibi purred, smiling as if drugged. Shukaku made a noncommittal sound in reply, staring ahead of him. He knew Nekomata had a soft spot for him, but he hadn't ever expected it to pay off like _this_. "Just just, ah, need to _wait_ for it…"

"What?" He turned to face her, narrowing his eyes. "What do you mean?"

She laid her ears back against her head, frowning. "Nothing! It's just that one of them got away from us earlier, but-but it will definitely come back to rescue the others, so it's just a matter of waiting."

"…" There was a certain amount of logic in it, even if it was _her_ logic. "…Fine."

She purred happily, ears perking up again. "It really is a pretty body. Akatsuki, too. The hair's a bit long, but you can always cut that--"

They had just come around the corner to find a sleeping Sanbi with a blonde human perched on top of his shell.

The blonde human--the one Nekomata had let get away--gave a guilty start, leapt off of Isonade's shell, and made a run for it. That awoke the Sanbi, just as Nekomata jumped over him to pursue the Akatsuki member.

Shukaku just sighed.

-.-.-

_Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit--_Deidara thought, sprinting down the hall. Thank the _gods_ that he had restocked on clay, otherwise he'd be screwed. As it was, he might've very well been screwed anyway. He was in an unknown building swarming with Bijuu, heading _away_ from his only allies in the entire place.

He threw out a hand to steady himself as he rounded a corner, his other hand greedily chewing on a mouthful of clay. Behind him, the Nibi howled something unintelligible. Deidara swallowed heavily. He was slower than the Bijuu without a bird, and his head start had been tiny.

Just as the cat demon was about to pounce on him, his left hand-mouth spat out a phoenix. Deidara couldn't help but grin as he ducked under the demon's paws, maximizing the bird and grabbing its tail feathers to haul himself up. The bird wove its way out from under the Nibi, shooting up towards the ceiling of the corridor. As it was, he was about level with the demon's ears. It made several lunges at him, but he managed to dodge each time, just centimeters from death.

Deidara rounded a corner on his bird, the cat right behind him, extended claws clicking on the stone floor. He looked back towards it, eyes wide as he noticed that the Nibi was _much_ closer than he'd thought--and he thought it had been cozy to begin with. The blonde turned his gaze forward again.

The Rokubi was running down the other end of the hall towards him, six tails waving in excitement.

_Oh shit oh shit oh shit_--

He had already passed the only door in the _entire_ hall. Perfect. Deidara looked back and forth between the two demons in the spare seconds before he would get crushed or killed or captured. There was no way out of this; no handy rooms or other hallways to escape into. Nothing but the two Bijuu and the stone--

Deidara grinned. It wasn't a happy, gleeful, or even manic grin (like his usual ones). It was a grin of pure uncertainty. He was an Iwa-nin, but it had been _years_ since he'd last attempted an escape via stone. Oh well. It wasn't like he had any other choice.

Making seals just as they were about to collide, he jumped off of the phoenix. The two demons, barely skidding to a halt before running into each other, watched in horror as the blonde artist sunk into the rock below like it was water. Then, in their faces, the clay bird exploded.

Deidara had no idea where he was coming back out. He hoped it was relatively close to where Hinata and Hidan were, though. He stepped cautiously out of one of the walls, keeping half of his body in it in case he needed another getaway. No signs of any malicious beasts. That was good. He heard a distant explosion echoing down the massive corridors. That was good, too. At least he was far away from two of them.

Oh well--they were bound to know he was here now, and he had a fast escape if needed. "Heeeey! Bya-chan, where are you?!" Deidara cupped his hands around his mouth, amplifying his voice. It echoed back at him, his only reply.

He jogged down the hallway, peeking around a corner first to make sure it was demon-free. Oh, shit. It wasn't; the Sanbi was sitting there, looking miffed. That meant that he was back near the prison, right?

Deidara melted into the stone again, calculating roughly where he should reappear. If it was a room they were trapped in, he should be able to gain access to it. He reappeared in another room. The thing that first caught his attention was the solid tang of chakra in the air. The second was that the Sanbi was sitting _right next to him_.

"Waa--" A hand clamped over his mouth, preventing his shout of alarm. Blue eyes slid up to look into white ones.

"Shh!" Hinata hushed, slowly letting go of him. Deidara grinned and pounced on her, picking her up and twirling her around. "Deidara-kun, put me down, now's not the best time--!!"

"I'm just glad you're alive, yeah!" he replied in a whisper.

"Yeah, nice to see you to. Fag." Hidan looked up from where he was leaning against the wall, arms crossed. "'Bout time you got your ass in here. So how are we getting out?"

"I barely know how I got _in_," Deidara responded flatly, glaring at him over Hinata's head. "I have no idea what this place is, what its layout is, or if it's completely stone--"

"Yeah, it's all fucking stone, okay? It's an old Akatsuki hideout." Hidan pushed off of the wall, glancing at the Sanbi just outside the cell. "Now get us the hell out of here before the shithead notices you're in here."

"_How_?" the blonde proposed, letting go of the kunoichi. He planted his fists on his hips. "I can only get around via the rock, and I don't know how you two could, yeah."

"I can get us out of the cell itself. After that, I have no fucking idea." The immortal shrugged. "If you can cause a distraction…"

"That I can do!" Deidara chirped, grinning evilly. "Open the cell door and the Sanbi won't know what hit him."

Hinata fretted, but kept silent. She watched, worrying, as the two men strode over to the metal bars. Hidan walked to a specific corner of it, and then grabbed the bar nearest it, lifting upward. Most of the wall fell forward without the support of the ground, unfortunately clanging to the ground just in front of the Sanbi.

"Do you _really_ think that accomplished anything?" the demon inquired dryly.

"Yeah!" Deidara held up a miniature of himself towards the Sanbi. "Meet Karura."

-.-.-

The three shinobi sprinted down the hall. Karura--or what had looked convincingly like the C4--had been nothing but a regular bomb. It made sense; Deidara wouldn't just disintegrate them all to try to attack the Bijuu, but it meant that it did minimal damage and little to distract the Sanbi; mostly just pissed it off.

The Sanbi tore down the hall after them. It was slower than the other demons, but it wasn't skidding around corners or anything like the Nibi had, and it kept shooting water at them that made the stone underneath their sandals slick. After rounding a corner and nearly sliding into the wall, they all kicked off their sandals and continued barefoot. It helped at first, but soon even that was lost.

Then, Hinata noticed that the stone beneath their feet was getting rougher. She activated her Byakugan to look downward--and was horrified at what she found.

The floor was coated in an inch or so of sand. And the volume of it was increasing.

"Stop!!" she screamed, sliding to a halt in the loose sand. Deidara and Hidan both stopped, just a moment after her, clearly about to ask why the hell they wanted to stop when a demon was chasing them. "There's--"

Then the sand below them leapt to life.

Almost all of it went straight for Deidara, wrapping around his body before he could do more than raise his arms. He was lifted into the air as the air was pressed out of his lungs. The Ichibi almost languidly walked around the corner they had been heading towards, single tail raised high with pleasure. "Looks like I caught myself a body," the demon remarked casually. The Sanbi came up behind them, panting slightly from its run, glaring disdainfully at the Ichibi.

Deidara gasped in pain as the sand twisted. Hinata heard a crack, but--what could she do? She was a genjutsu and taijutsu specialist, both of which would do little here; she didn't even have her weapons. She watched in dismay as Deidara gave one last groan, and then his head lolled limply to the side. "Deidara-kun--!"

"Is now mine," the Ichibi finished for her in a growl. He regarded the other two with flat expressions. "Looks like you almost made it…but then again, Pein _almost_ kept us contained, and he _almost_ beat us, and this one--Deidara--_almost_ made it out of here."

"Fucking asshole of a badger," Hidan snarled, narrowing his eyes. Hinata couldn't help but silently agree with the statement. "You were all idiotic animals, unworthy for even slaughter, and now you're thinking you're higher than the gods? Than Jashin-sama? Just because you catch a bunch of fucking _kids_ and destroy a few villages?!"

"Shut up." Behind them, the Sanbi flooded the corridor, much to the Ichibi's irritation. Most of the sand floated loosely to the bottom of the hall, while the ninja were suddenly given one last chance at something, if they didn't drown first. Hinata swam over to pull Deidara out of the weakened sand, trying to pull him upward to the dwindling supply of air at the top of the hall.

But then, all of the water rushed back out, quickly enough that they actually dropped back to the floor. Deidara got back up to his hands and knees, coughing wetly; the impact had awoken him. Hinata helped him to his feet, biting her lip. What had that accomplished? What was it _supposed_ to accomplish?

The answer soon became apparent as she noticed the Rokubi standing beside the Sanbi, its golden fur crackling with static electricity.

"Oh, shit," Hidan said, just as it unleashed a bolt of raw electricity at them.

-.-.-

He had no idea how long he'd been out when his eyes reopened. It was dark. But that was to be expected--after all, the Bijuu couldn't operate light switches…

Deidara sat up, rubbing his head. He felt sore and his chest hurt. From experience, he figured he had a cracked or broken rib. Maybe two. Hinata was laying in his lap, eyes closed and face flushed. He looked down at her, wondering if he should try to get up any further with her on him. Better to; she would need to wake up, anyway…

There were voices outside. They were dim and somewhat hard to hear, but the echoing hallways made it possible. Deidara slithered out from under her and carefully stepped over Hidan, walking over the cell door. It was a wall of bars again, but this time it was obviously cemented quite deeply into the stone. Nothing he couldn't handle…

"I wouldn't do that if _I_ were you," a voice said. Deidara's head snapped around guiltily, beholding the Shichibi sitting against the far wall. The badger demon cocked its head to one side, grinning playfully. "I'm under strict orders to squish you all if you try another escape attempt."

"…Squish," Deidara repeated, sparing him a flat look.

The Shichibi waltzed over, seven tails swinging. It was smaller than the other Bijuu, he noted, but he doubted that it was any less powerful. After all, they were ranked by tail number, weren't they? Seven was the third highest… "Oh yes. Just like you, Deidara-san, I am…well, the demon equivalent of an Iwa-nin. This entire structure is stone, as you well know. I can control and manipulate any part of it better than _you_ could ever hope. Now, you wouldn't want your entire cell suddenly collapsing, hmm?"

"Don't call me that, yeah," he snapped.

"What? Deidara-san or an Iwa-nin?" it asked innocently, putting a paw to its mouth. "I'll call you whatever I damn please, human."

Deidara didn't reply. The other voices were slightly louder now, echoing down the hall. The Shichibi sat down by the entrance, folding its paws casually in front of it. Sitting down, it was only about as tall as he was. "…You can listen all you like. It'll probably only be all the worse for you. After all, ignorance is bliss, isn't it?" the demon said mysteriously, eyes glittering.

He scowled, and just tried to listen harder.

"…Yes, I know… That has yet to be decided, Hachimata…"

"…I say we just do it now…"

"I agree…!"

"But… gets who… and how can we decide…?"

"There's three of them now… Later… Only eight of us, so it'll…"

_Eight?!_ Deidara shouted mentally. There were only _eight_ demons?! One of them had died? Or been destroyed…? Neither he nor Sasori knew anything about this. Hidan hadn't done it; otherwise he would have mentioned it, so he doubted that Kakuzu did it, either. That left only Zetsu, or even some other mystery shinobi… at least it lightened their load. A little.

He couldn't help but wonder which it had been, though. Deidara mentally counted them off. _Ichi, ni, san, yon…did the Gobi bite it?_ It was the only demon he hadn't seen yet, aside from the Kyuubi. But somehow, he doubted the world was lucky enough to have lost the Kyuubi already. The logical choice was the Gobi. That had been the one Zetsu had captured. So Zetsu won against it! Deidara pumped a fist in the air, his own situation temporarily forgotten with the rush of elation. _Only eight more demons to go_!

"Oh, I suppose you shouldn't have heard that," the Shichibi remarked, but it didn't sound overly worried. "No matter."

Most of his joy was lost with that.

Down the hall, the echoed voices floated back to them. "…Nekomata should definitely… she caught them…"

"I should…!!"

"But the… shouldn't go to just _anyone_…"

"One of the higher-ups should definitely receive _that_ one…" They were probably talking about Hidan. Deidara looked back over his shoulder at the sleeping immortal. Yeah, he was _some_ catch.

"Since Nekomata was the one to have been captured by the immortal, _and_ because she was the one who brought him in, she suddenly has a lot of power. That's what they're arguing about," the Shichibi explained, tapping its claws against the stone. "Of course, it doesn't matter. Hachimata, Youko and I all have already decided who gets who."

"Oh really," Deidara replied noncommittally.

The Shichibi smiled thinly, exposing a few fangs. "Oh, yes. Nekomata gets the female, by her own choice. It's still up in the air who gets the immortal, but from what I understand, you've been given as a gift."

"_What_." That didn't sound fun. Deidara scowled, wondering why the demon was even sharing this with him. To drive him crazy, or just make him mad, provoke him into a fight?

"You see, Nekomata is quite in love with Shukaku. She is trying to convince Youko to allow you to go to him. Since he had such a part in your capture, I'm fairly certain that he'll allow it."

Shukaku…wasn't that the Ichibi? _Of course it is_, he thought morosely. But there was still a chance he could get out of this. From the sound of things, the Bijuu all didn't get along perfectly. And there was still arguments over who should get which human body. If he played his cards right… "But…wait. Don't _you_ want _me_, yeah?" Deidara asked innocently, facing the Shichibi with wide eyes.

The badger looked affronted. "Why?"

"You said so yourself. We're both of the rock and stone. Shukaku can only control his little sand. Wouldn't you like to have a body that already has an affinity for what you use, yeah?"

The Shichibi smiled at him, clearly not taking the bait. "It was a nice try, and I'll admit that it was clever of you. You probably would have succeeded, too, if it wasn't for one very important thing."

"And what is that?" the Iwa-nin asked sourly.

"Right now, I'm the top candidate for the immortal body. You would just be a silver medal, and why would I _honestly_ want that compared to immortality?"

"But--you didn't do _anything_. The Nibi and Sanbi brought us in, and it was the Ichibi, Sanbi and Rokubi who captured us all again. Why the hell would--" Deidara burst out, but the Bijuu raised a paw to silence him.

"First off, I have _seven tails_. I'm higher-ranking than all of those."

"So then why not the Kyuubi take Hidan?"

"He doesn't _want_ him., and the Hachibi is holding out for the other immortal. A vain hope, I think, but I'm not going to tell him that. By default, I get next pick."

If the Kyuubi didn't want an immortal body, who in the world _did_ he want? Everyone else was _dead_. Deidara didn't ask. He was fairly certain that the Shichibi wouldn't have divulged that, but it was already useful information… "So you want _him_?" He jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the albino man.

"I'll admit, I am less than pleased with the overall physical appearance of the body, but immortality isn't something to pass up. Moreover, in addition to powers of the earth, I can shape shift, so appearance is no problem for me. What's a few scars, anyway?" The longer this conversation continued, the more Deidara hated this demon.

"So then, why are they even arguing?"

"To decide _when_ to seal. Now, while we have you, or wait for more bodies so it isn't 'unfair'? So childish…" The Bijuu gave a mock sigh, setting its head in its paws. "I'm biased, though, so what can I say? …And it's really up to Youko, anyway?"

Deidara found it only mildly interesting that they all seemed to have actual names for each other, and that they were assigning genders as well. How alive did these chakra beasts think they were? "Well, you had better seal us pretty damn fast, yeah, because I can assure you that we're not staying in here for long." He turned his back on the Bijuu and sunk to the ground, drawing his knees up to his chest. The Shichibi chuckled.

"I'll keep that in mind, Deidara-san."

_Bya-chan is going to the Nibi. Hidan's going to the Shichibi, and I'm going to the Ichibi. The Gobi is dead, and the Kyuubi seems to have supreme power over the rest of them. They also don't seem to get along with each other, and actually have a hierarchy based on number of tails,_ he summarized in his mind. _They have names and genders for each other and appear to have mixed feelings toward one another, too. …Now let's hope we can get out of here before they turn us into Jinchuuriki so I can make use of this information._

Deidara could only feel hopelessness. There was nothing they could do inside, then. They'd have to wait for outside intervention…like Sasori or Kakuzu, even Neji, he'd be glad to see at this point. Unless they brought an army with them, it was unlikely they would do anything… It was just hopeless. Unless a miracle happened, and fast, it looked like the Bijuu would gain their first three weapons.

-.-.-

Next Chapter: We return to the kids, who are staying in the village until Sasori comes back for them (that's _if_ he does). The boys 'bond' with each other, while Hitomi meets up with a woman that shouldn't be alive... Things move on, until they reach Iwa land. Then--disaster.


	9. In Which Hope Is Both Found And Lost

"He's not coming back, is he?" Seishirou asked as they were ditched in the village. Ryo shook his head. "…Jerk."

"I believe Sasori will come back," Hitomi declared loyally. Her brother spared her a withering, 'are you kidding me' look. "Logically, he will want backup, and unless he rejoins Kakuzu or his partner, we are the only choice he has left."

"No, I think he's more of the loner type."

"More of the 'leave me the hell alone or I'll kill you' type…" Seishirou muttered under his breath. "So…what choices do we have? Wait for him here, wait out the entire thing here, or pursue him?"

"I want to get clean," she said automatically. "_Now_."

Ryo shrugged. "Works for me. Won't hurt us to get some proper food, too…"

"Clean first."

"Do you think the civilian villages still do the whole shinobi getting free rooms deal?" the ginger-haired boy asked his teammate.

"There's no way that they could have heard about Kirigakure yet," Ryo said, "So of course." He reached back and untied the knot of his hitai-ate, pulling it off of his head. "Thus, this is going to be our meal ticket. And room ticket."

"And clean ticket." Hitomi simply would not let the matter drop; Seishirou couldn't blame her. He knew how his sister was; the last week or so would have been hell for her, but at least she hadn't complained constantly.

He ruffled her hair, grinning. "What a trooper. Of _course_ we'll go get clean first." She was caught between smiling from relief and growling at him for further messing up her hair.

-.-.-

Hitomi sunk low in the water, sighing. This was…perfect. Short hair was always the best in hot springs; it meant she didn't have to put it up; she took out her barrettes, though. The onsen wasn't particularly crowded, and even if it was, the girl wouldn't have minded. She would have ripped people apart soon if she couldn't get the grime off of her skin.

Of course, hot springs weren't exactly the _best_ for that, but she needed relaxation, too. Shinobi rule seventeen (or maybe twenty-seven?): keep your body relaxed, for enemies can sense tension. Hitomi smiled in contentment, leaning her head against the wall for support. This was the life.

"Is that little girl alone in here?"

Of course, she could have lived without the whispers from the other women. A few of the younger girls, however, politely kept quiet and shot nasty glares at the older women. Hitomi had to wonder if they were kunoichi (or if any of them were--after all, it was a primarily civilian village). She just ignored most of them, though.

"She's a bit young to be by herself…" one particularly nasty-looking woman whispered to her friend. Hitomi reopened an eye to warily watch her.

"Maybe her brother or father is here with her?" her ally whispered back, discreetly covering her mouth with her hand. The young Hyuuga heard her, anyway. "Or maybe her boyfriend; she's so cute…"

"Eww, really? The black hair is nice--but her _eyes_. They're freaky."

Okay, if they were going to insult her eyes, then measures had to be taken. Hitomi closed both eyes again, thinking. The water-walking technique was based on releasing chakra from your feet at a fairly constant rate to repel the water below; however, as she had figured out while learning it, if you used too much chakra, you created waves, or even shot yourself off of the surface of the water.

Hitomi used the steam and water covering her body to disguise her movements. Just as she was about to attempt this rather childish form of payback, though, a geyser of water erupted beneath both women, soaking them both and pulling their hair out of their buns. The women gaped, at a loss for what to do. Hitomi, too, was caught off guard; had _she_ done _that_?!

"You stupid old women. You're _obviously_ civilians." Across the onsen, a pretty blonde woman stood up, placing her hands on her hips. She stepped out of the water and grabbed her towel, throwing dirty looks over her shoulder every few moments. "Those 'freaky eyes' you're going on about happen to possess the Byakugan. You're lucky she didn't fry your insides."

The two gossiping women looked fearfully over at Hitomi, who blanched in reply. Fry their insides?! Was she referring to the _Juuken_, or was it a bluff? Then, the girl turned back to her blonde savior, logic taking back over. _How does she know about the Byakugan? I have never seen her before in my life,_ Hitomi thought, watching the stranger warily. The blue-eyed blonde sashayed over, and then held out Hitomi's towel for her.

"Come on, Hyuuga-chan. If you stay here too much longer, you'll probably be lynched by the ignorant natives," she said with that same creepy smile on her face as she turned back to the other women. "Not that they'd get far…"

Hitomi reluctantly took her towel. She hadn't necessarily wanted to get out now, but this stranger had a point. If she stayed there longer, it would only cause rancor to develop, and she didn't want to cause a scene. "…Thank you…"

She wrapped it around herself and obediently followed the woman out to retrieve their clothes. As they got dressed, the woman chattered happily away. "Yeah, in all honesty, I probably wouldn't have done that for any kunoichi. It was your eyes--the Byakugan. It came from Konoha, right? I'm a Konoha-nin. Now, before you ask, I'm still alive because I had been on a mission at the time of the Bijuu destruction; me and a couple of others, I think. Not many. What hidden village are you from? Not Konoha; you're much too young. Your parents were probably from there, though, unless there's some other Hyuuga living in other villages, but I doubt that. Are you a genin? Who are you here with?"

Hitomi couldn't help but remember how many times her mother had told her not to talk to strangers. "Uhh…" Then again, this woman already told her plenty about herself, and she _had_ saved her from those nasty women. "I am not yet a genin, and I am here with my brother…" She didn't technically have to know about Ryo.

"And your village?" the woman prompted, pulling on her sandals.

"…Kirigakure."

"Ah. I guess I should have known; it's the only major village around anymore, right? So you're still a student? Well, what are you doing all the way out here? Is your brother a shinobi?"

"He is a genin."

"Tsk." The woman shook her head. "It's almost _sad_ to see genin so far from their villages these days… I mean, back when _I_ was a genin, I certainly didn't go on too many long missions! Especially not with academy students." She sniffed in disdain. "But…it's _your_ mission, not mine, so I guess I have no room to comment. After all, drastic times call for drastic measures."

Hitomi set about to brushing her hair, keeping silent. They really weren't on a mission. In fact, she had never been on a real mission before in her life, so she had no idea what it entailed. Better to keep silent than to accidentally prove the woman wrong. She carefully combed out her black locks before meticulously replacing the silver barrettes, staring solemnly at herself in the mirror. It looked fine… Not a hair out of place. Perfect. Of course, her kimono was another story. She had straightened and smoothed it all she could, but without washing or ironing it, there really wasn't much hope for it. What a pity… She'd have to walk around the village all day with a dirty, rumpled kimono! That just wasn't right!

"You've been traveling for awhile, hmm?" the woman inquired, pointing at the offending piece of clothing. "…And in a _kimono_? I'm sorry, but what the hell would possess you to do _that_?" She gestured to her own ensemble. A long, purple skirt, but with slits up the sides to her waist to allow for movement. And it looked like she was wearing pants underneath, anyway. Complete with a matching purple top, of course.

Hitomi wrinkled her nose. "I dislike wearing pants."

"Oh! Well there are plenty of skirts and alternatives out there for young kunoichi-in-training, you know." She beamed at the younger girl. "You don't have to run around in full formal attire!"

"This is not…" She looked down at herself. It wasn't _full_ formal…it was just what she had grown up in. She wore either a kimono or a training outfit; she _liked_ her kimonos (Her training outfit, not so much). This was normal for her.

The woman's smile thinned a bit, and her eyes got a mischievous sparkle. "I knew it. You really _are_ a Hyuuga." Hitomi hadn't ever denied that charge, had she? "And not half, either. Only a full-blooded Hyuuga would wear kimonos constantly, and I only know of two who got out of Konoha in time. Your mother is Hyuuga Hinata, isn't she?"

-.-.-

"Mine's bigger."

"Bullshit."

"Yeah-huh it is, asshole."

"Bullshit."

Both boys stopped dead when they spotted Hitomi. She appeared to be cornered by a blonde woman who had to be a kunoichi of some sort. The student was nothing short of cowering, her doe eyes larger than ever, hands trembling. Seishirou's brotherly instincts kicked in at that point.

He took a running start and a leap, and threw the woman into the farthest wall with a spinning kick. He heard Ryo groan, but he was more intent on the woman. She was definitely a kunoichi; she spun in midair and landed against the wall on her feet, arms out from her sides for balance. Her pale blue eyes locked with his, narrowing. "Who are you?" she demanded.

"What the hell?! I should be asking _you_ that! What were you doing to my sister?!" Seishirou retorted, standing in front of Hitomi protectively.

"Seishirou…" she said quietly, tugging on his sleeve. He didn't turn, keeping ringed eyes on the kunoichi.

"Your _sister_?" The woman jumped down from the wall, landing on her feet again. She walked towards them, for all intents and purposes a thoroughly non-fighting stance. "You can't--I mean, you look nothing alike."

"So?" As if Seishirou had never noticed _that_ before. But that was beside the point. "What were you doing to her?"

"Nothing! We were just having a friendly conversation, weren't we, Hyuuga-chan?" The woman looked to Hitomi appealingly. The little girl, in return, narrowed her eyes. Then Seishirou caught sight of the hitai-ate tied around her neck.

He froze, and was about to point to it, when he found that he couldn't move. "What the--"

"Very observant of you." A new voice suddenly joined the conversation. It belonged to a dark-haired man, strolling up behind the blonde woman languidly. His hands were holding up a seal, though, and Seishirou stepped forward in sync with this newcomer. "Ino, what have you been doing…? You know I hate damage control."

"Nothing!" the woman, Ino, snapped in a high voice. "But--Look!" She pointed at Hitomi. The man turned his head and Seishirou felt his head pulled in the same direction, mirroring him. "This is the daughter of Hinata!"

"I never said that," Hitomi replied in a low tone.

The man cocked his head to one side (Seishirou, once again, forced to mimic him) and studied her. "…So what?" he finally asked.

"What do you mean, 'so what'?! It means that Hinata's still alive, which means Neji probably is, too!"

"…And? If you recall, they're our enemies as of the last war."

Hitomi looked up as Ryo sidled up behind her. He nodded down towards a black line connecting Seishirou and this man--his shadow. She bit her lip, and then looked back up at her brother's teammate. He wasn't looking at her now.

"Ino, you don't think things through often, do you?" the man said with a sigh. "Look… The last time we saw her, we _attacked her_. She has the Byakugan. Now add one and one."

"…" Ino just glared at him in response.

He sighed again. "She sees us as enemies. And, knowing Hinata's--or even Neji's--personality, would they allow their children to get near enemies? No. If Hinata was here, which she _obviously_ is not, we would be fighting her now. More likely than not, this girl just lied to you, and this is her genin team, and their sensei is around here somewhere waiting to see if we exhibit outright aggressive behavior. Or they might really be out here on their own; I don't care." He shrugged, shoving one hand into his pocket as he pulled out a carton of cigarettes with the other. "…Either way, this is _way_ too troublesome to get into. Let's just leave now while we're ahead."

"But…"

"They're not Konoha-nin. They have no idea what's going on. Just leave unless you want to fight a bunch of genin." He lit a cigarette and let it hang from his lower lip.

Ino looked ready to say something else, but instead bit her lip and looked down on her sandals. A moment later, however, she brightened again. "Tell your mom I said hi, okay, Hyuuga-chan?"

"My name is Hitomi."

"Okay…" The broad grin melted into a soft smile. "Okay, Hitomi-chan. Tell your mother hi from us, as Konoha-nin, not enemies."

Seishirou stumbled forward as he was released from the binding jutsu. He was already reaching down for a kunai to retaliate with, but Ryo held his wrist as Ino and her companion turned and left. They vanished in a swirl of leaves just outside the door. "…They were assholes."

"Mother does not like you swearing," Hitomi admonished.

"She also doesn't like you giving your name out to strangers, if I recall," he retorted. She blushed but still tried valiantly to stare him down. Seishirou won.

"So, your parents betrayed Konohagakure in favor of the Akatsuki," Ryo said loudly, breaking up the staring contest. "That's an interesting tidbit. Maybe Sasori-sensei should know about this."

"I would be certain that he would already know such a detail."

"_Sensei_?" Seishirou's response was the less elegant of the two. He was looking at Ryo as if he'd grown another head or suddenly declared his undying love for him. "But--we already _have_ a sensei!"

"Who is not here at the moment," Hitomi piped up. Her brother gave her a flat glare, telling her silently to stay out of it.

"It's polite to call someone that if the situation calls for it--"

"Yeah, if they actually _are_ teachers!"

Ryo rolled his eyes, blowing a few locks of black hair out of them. "I think he's already taught us plenty. With a bit of persuasion, I think we could glean some more important information and skills; maybe he'd be flattered enough to actually take us on as some sort of temporary students, until this entire thing is over. Are you _really_ going to give up the chance to learn under an Akatsuki member, Sei?"

"Well, no, but--"

"What did sensei always tell us?" he persisted.

"'Learn from everywhere'," Seishirou replied dutifully. "But I think he was just rehashing shinobi rule six."

"That's beside the point. It won't hurt to stroke Sasori's ego a bit. He's obviously uptight enough to demand some respect from us, and we might as well oblige."

"If he ever comes back," he muttered darkly.

"Sasori will return for us!" Hitomi exclaimed, obviously still loyal to the redhead. Seishirou groaned; his sister could be won over by the _stupidest_ things… "I agree, however. We should be nice to Sasori, and Ryo's idea is not bad."

Both boys turned to look at her incredulously. Hitomi had _never_, in her entire life, called _anyone_ by any honorific. If Sasori could bring out that habit in her…Seishirou would admit that he'd be jealous. There were several times in the past where he would have given his leg to hear her call him 'nii-chan' or even just 'Sei'. (But no, it was always 'Seishirou'.) "Are you…_serious_?" Ryo asked dumbly, staring at her. Flushing a brilliant red, Hitomi hastily averted her eyes, indicating that she, personally, probably wouldn't call Sasori 'sensei' if it killed her, but she thought it was a good idea anyway. Just because he gave them a chance to bathe… Kids and their idols. Such silliness.

"Fine, we'll play it your way," Seishirou conceded, throwing his hands up in the air. "I'll call this ass whatever you guys want me to. If it can give me godly powers like the Akatsuki, good. If not, then what the hell ever. I'm past the point of caring." The other two beamed at him for his undignified retreat.

-.-.-

Hitomi was given Ryo's hitai-ate; it was the only one they had between the three of them. Hitomi obviously hadn't graduated yet, and Seishirou had left his at home. He had actually lost it in the fire, but he wouldn't admit that to either of them.

The little girl was given this responsibility because the boys were operating under the principle that she couldn't take care of herself otherwise. The headband was their ticket to practically anything, free of charge, in the village, and if they got separated, they were operating under the assumption that as shinobi, either Seishirou or Ryo could easily find her.

Hitomi took Ryo's headband like it was his soul. Seishirou grimaced at the display of outright adoration, wondering who really topped in her heart, Ryo or Sasori. That could be a fun game to play later if he got bored, he decided. She tried tying it around her neck, not wanting to mess up her hair, but couldn't quite get the knot behind her head tied properly. Ryo stepped in at that point to help and Seishirou was honestly surprised she didn't faint from the proximity.

The first day passed in boredom. They had no idea what to do, especially after they'd met the Konoha-nin (and couldn't find them again) and got some proper food into their systems. They played a few games of hide-and-seek in the town, until a few of the civilians yelled at them for running on the roofs. The kids went to bed at possibly the earliest time in their entire lives, and slept in the next day until almost noon. It was an unprecedented amount of sleep for all of them, and their bodies didn't know what to do with all of the extra rest, so the second day was spent sluggishly wondering what to do.

Ryo stopped suddenly. His head was turned, eyes glued on a shop front to their left. Seishirou stopped after realizing that Ryo had, but Hitomi would have kept walking had he not snagged her sleeve as she passed. Ryo took a step towards the shop front, just as Seishirou realized what he was looking at. He released his sister and followed his teammate.

Hitomi stood behind them, completely nonplussed as to why two young boys would want to look at pictures of women in bikinis.

The store front had several posters, calendars and magazines plastered up against the glass to attract attention, which it certainly did. Both boys were pressed up against the glass, never having actually seen a store such as this before. Sure, they had seen plenty of naughty pictures and ads for videos in a few stores they'd been too, but usually about this time Miki or their sensei would have dragged them off. Now that they had the chance to act upon this curiosity, simply put, they had _no idea_ what to do.

So Ryo and Seishirou just stood there and stared, hands and foreheads leaning against the glass. Hitomi stood awkwardly behind them, until figuring out that they weren't going to move anytime soon. She seated herself neatly on the dirt below, smoothing out the wrinkles in her kimono, and watched the boys intently.

Not a moment later, she was hauled back upright by a tug on her upper arm. "What do you brats think you're doing?" She looked up, brightening instantly when she saw that her redheaded idol had returned for them.

"Ryo and Seishirou are looking at those pictures," she said helpfully. By then, the boys had pried themselves away from the glass guiltily, and rather red-faced. Both of them wiped their noses on their sleeves to hide the blood.

"…I've almost forgotten how truly obnoxious genin are," Sasori deadpanned.

"Spending too much time in the company of S-ranked criminals?" Ryo offered, voice muffled by the wrist in front of his mouth.

"People are staring at your uniform," Seishirou added pleasantly. Sasori looked casually over his shoulder at one civilian who had been staring at him since his arrival. The poor man paled under his stare and hastily went on his way.

"And now they aren't." He let go of Hitomi (much to her disappointment). "_What_ have you three idiots been doing?"

"Waiting for you to haul your ass back here to pick us up. So how did recon go?" Ryo asked. He pulled his arm away from his nose, after making sure the bleeding had stopped. Most of his wrist and quite a bit of his shirtfront had been stained already, however.

Sasori scowled. "None of your business, brat. You're lucky I even came back for you."

"Why did you, Sasori-sensei?" Ryo asked innocently. "Because we're too adorable to resist--?"

"_Sensei_? No way. You're not dragging me into any kind of relationship with you little monsters, let alone a teaching one."

"But you've already taught us so much!" Seishirou exclaimed in mock horror. "Why won't you continue teaching us, Sasori-sensei?"

"Quit calling me that."

"You're our only guardian right now, and you're in possession of so much knowledge that we just can't help but want to learn from you!" the black-haired genin said, pouting. Seishirou quickly copied the expression.

"You're wanting to spite me, that's what," Sasori retorted.

"No, it's just that we deeply admire you and you're the only connection to our parents! We _need_ you, Sasori-sensei!" Seishirou crooned.

"I'm leaving. Now. Without you idiots." With that curt farewell, he turned on his heel and stomped away. Without waiting for the boys' reaction, Hitomi pattered after him, attaching herself to his sleeve. Sasori stopped and tried to shake her off. She wouldn't budge. "Let go of me!"

"Please?" she asked. And she used one of her main weapons: her doe eyes. Seishirou couldn't help but grimace. Whenever she deemed it necessary to use that stare, no one, _no one_, ever was able to resist it. Not himself, not their parents, not Ryo or Miki or even their previous sensei or her own teacher. Sasori stared at her for a long time, trying to glare her down.

"I'm leaving." He won. Hitomi looked absolutely appalled, and then even that quickly morphed into sorrow. She hung her head and sunk to the ground, drawing her knees up to her to rest her forehead on them. Sasori rolled his eyes. "Get up; you're making a scene."

"You will not take us to our parents, and you are abandoning us here with enemy shinobi and rude civilians, with no money or weapons or means to take care of ourselves," came the muffled reply. Seishirou and Ryo glanced at each other. Was this a ploy to get Sasori's protection, or was she actually _that_ brokenhearted about him attempting to leave them? It was hard to tell. Hitomi hesitantly raised her head, looking up at her idol with her signature doe eyes again. "How can you, in good conscience, leave three nearly defenseless children when the Bijuu are on a manhunt? You said so yourself; we can hardly take care of ourselves."

Sasori was fighting a losing battle at this point, and he knew it, too. Looking away to avoid her main weapon, he crossed his arms and said flatly, "You're not going to manage to coerce me into babysitting you three. I'm not Deidara."

"No doubt he would not let his best friend's children alone in the world." Hitomi hid her face behind her knees again. She even faked (maybe?) a little sniffle. "He would not be so cruel and cold-hearted. I thought the reason you kept your human heart was so that you could retain some semblance of your humanity? But that obviously was a lie--"

"Oh, fine! For god's sake, just shut up and follow me!" Sasori burst out finally. He looked rather embarrassed, even if he wasn't flushed. Without allowing them time to celebrate their one victory as a team thus far, he strode away with a swirl of his cloak.

-.-.-

"Where are we going?"

"And are we there yet?"

Sasori had tried to keep his patience. He really had. Even Deidara--or, heaven forbid, _Tobi_--wasn't as much of a strain on the nerves as those three children. Several times he had to physically stop himself from throttling one or all of them. Ryo was argumentative, Seishirou was snide, and Hitomi wouldn't let him out of her sight. He had to travel agonizingly slow and wait for them to catch up. Moreover, they insisted on stopping several times a day to eat and stop early to sleep. Deidara had never been that whiny!

He had, however, on his reconnaissance mission, picked up on the demons' trail again. While he knew they were very far behind, as they traversed the countryside, he couldn't help but hope that they would still make it in time. After all, he knew that the Bijuu barely tolerated each other. They wouldn't agree to seal one or two, or even three, of them. It would have to be an all-or-nothing thing with that group of beasts. They might have gotten one other body--Zetsu--but that would be it. There was no possible way that they could have all nine already.

They were out what had been Fire territory, at least. It was almost as if shinobi-kind was regressing. No longer was it villages who ruled; it was clans, or tiny, ninja-only towns. All of them seemed only out for themselves, too. There'd be no haven for them unless they could bully their way in on Sasori's reputation. The village he'd dumped them in was the last friendly civilian village for quite some time. They were on their own (which was totally fine with him).

They kept generally to the south. Mostly because he knew that territory the most. And they would hopefully stay out of the way of any enemies.

Then they came upon the desert.

Or, more precisely, what would have been the desert if it wasn't for the _glass_ everywhere.

The three kids stood in awe, shielding their eyes from the glare. Sasori narrowed his; sand plus heat equaled glass. The only heat source that could have done this was the Nibi, but why would it have just wasted all that fire? Unless…the humans had escaped.

_This would have been where Deidara escaped from them, then. Possibly the other two as well. So now the question is did they _stay _away?_ he asked himself, frowning faintly. If so, then he wouldn't have to follow the Bijuu tracks so desperately and could save that for later, when (and if) they were ready to plan an assault on wherever the demons were stationed; he would also potentially have an ally or two out in the world, somewhere. If not, then he would have to ignore this bid for freedom and continue on his way.

That was probably the wiser course of action, because he had no idea whether or not the escape attempt was successful. All Sasori could surmise was that they got away from the Bijuu, somehow, and the Nibi had resorted to attacking. Before or after that, Deidara sent out his clay bird as a decoy. That was when they had found Sasori for the second time… Had any of the ninja been there with them? He couldn't remember.

"What's that?" Seishirou's question snapped him out of his daze. The genin was pointing over to one of the glass-coated dunes. Part of it had been cracked away to reveal the sand underneath, with jagged edges around it. Something long and fluttering was caught on one of those edges.

Hitomi was the first one to reach it. She had already gently detached it from the cracked glass. "This was…is…mother's hair tie." She held up the indigo ribbon to Sasori. He nodded; of course he knew it. She had _always_ worn it.

They continued on at a more northern angle from there. It was something Sasori wasn't entirely pleased with. If they stayed in Wind territory, then he was familiar with it, but they were angled towards Earth… He had only been there a sparse few times. They had an old Akatsuki base there, but it wasn't very far into the country, and he thought that the farthest in he'd ever gone was on the mission to kill Takamaru. Beyond that was an impassable mountain range. Were the Bijuu living there?

The terrain got steadily steeper and rockier as they trekked. High mountains came into view on the horizon. Sasori spotted the occasional bird or mountain goat, but aside from that, it was pretty lifeless. He doubted that they'd see many villages this far west.

Then, as the sun was nearly setting, he noticed something.

"…When was the last time any of you saw an animal?" he asked, stopping. He held out a hand to stop Hitomi (who always followed behind him). Ryo and Seishirou, up ahead, both halted as well, looking thoughtful.

"…I don't know. I saw a rabbit fifteen minutes or so ago." Ryo scratched his head, looking around. "Why?"

"This terrain…it's not that harsh. I know a lot of animals live here. Birds, goats, rodents, predators, a lot. But…there hasn't been any wildlife for ten minutes or so. An abrupt lack of them." Shinobi training was suddenly screaming at them all to get out of there, _now_.

Then the Bijuu materialized out of the stone just ahead of them, sharp teeth glistening in the failing light.

-.-.-

Next Chapter: A fight for their lives! After meeting up with an ally and having a lucky break with him, things turn bad. A tragedy occurs, and Hitomi must try to deal with that before the Bijuu turns on her!


	10. Mercy Angel

Sasori reacted immediately. With movements fast enough to be blurred, he pulled out a scroll and suddenly there was a black, hulking puppet floating in front of them and a wall of black separating them from the Shichibi. It happened so fast that they couldn't even count how many tails it had.

He forcefully pulled the two boys over to him with chakra strings. "Run," he hissed, pushing them and Hitomi down the path they'd just come. "Run as fast as you can and don't turn around or try to hide. Just _run_. And--Seishirou, close your eyes. Keep them closed no matter _what_ you do. Stay together. Use any cloaking jutsus you can. Now get the hell away from here!"

"But--" Hitomi started. She only got that out before the black wall in front of them disintegrated as the badger-like Bijuu burst through it. She was shoved backwards down the path, with Seishirou pulling her by the hand. He had no idea why he was ordered to close his eyes, but he wasn't going to stay around to argue the point. He did, however, keep them open a sliver to see.

"How delightful, a chase!" the Bijuu howled, laughing. It dove cleanly over Sasori and melted back into the stone around them. The kids halted, looking around wildly. They didn't have to look long. The demon reappeared in front of them, seven tails bristling behind it. It was the Shichibi. "Come on, kids. Let's play tag."

Contrary to Sasori's orders, they obeyed shinobi training and scattered. Seishirou kept his hand clamped onto Hitomi's, however. He wasn't about to let his little sister get killed now. Ryo bolted in the opposite direction. The Shichibi looked between the two disappearing ones, still grinning broadly. After a moment's hesitation, it disappeared back into the ground again.

There had been a ravine near the path about a kilometer back. Seishirou figured they could hide in there, if need be. At least it'd be easier to fight if they had to. After a few agonizing moments of wondering where the Bijuu would pop up and trying to keep Hitomi from falling behind, he scooped up his sister. There--there was the ravine. Without a second thought, he dove into it, skidding to a halt sideways, keeping himself glued to the rock wall with chakra. Boy, he was thankful that their previous sensei had made them learn to walk on all sorts of surfaces. Seishirou kept his mouth open to silence his breathing, holding Hitomi tightly against his chest.

There was no sound other than the beating of their hearts.

-.-.-

Ryo zigzagged. It wasn't something he had learned in the academy, or was even ever told he should do. He'd actually picked it up from a pet rabbit he once had. Whenever a dog would frighten it, it would run in a zigzag to stop anything from following it easily. Hopefully the same principles would apply here.

Seishirou and his sister had taken off in the other direction. Sasori, he had no idea. But he found out, after just a few seconds, that the Shichibi had chosen to come after _him_.

He narrowly avoided getting rammed by the demon. It could travel through the rocks around them like water, he noted. It was perfect territory for it, and Ryo was nothing short of a sitting duck, then. He ducked under the Bijuu, rolling back to his feet. The Shichibi perched on a high rock to his right, tails waving behind it. "You were the fastest of the three," it told him.

Ryo knew it was a lie. Seishirou could usually outstrip him in any race, but he had had Hitomi with him… The black-haired genin tried to stare the demon down. Maybe if it figured out he wasn't afraid--though his racing heart proved otherwise--it would lose interest in him and return to fighting Sasori. Sasori could take it. He couldn't.

"You're a delightful little boy, you know that? A lot of spunk." It grinned, running its tongue along its sharp teeth. "Shinobi are _so_ interesting…"

Sasori caught up with them. A wave of black _something_ rushed over the rock it was perched on, flooding the area and encompassing the Bijuu. The black mass didn't move. Was it suffocating it, or crushing it? The redhead and his puppet came up behind Ryo, the latter moving haltingly to control the stuff. "Get out of here," he said shortly, muddy eyes on the black-covered Bijuu.

Ryo didn't need a second telling. But just as he was scrambling up to escape, the black stuff promptly fell down into a heap. The Shichibi was gone. Vanished back into the stone. He let out a yelp as he felt something grab his feet, and was suddenly thrown high into the air. Something hard and sharp caught him, digging into his back. Suddenly, the black stuff was coming towards him--and he figured out that the Bijuu had caught him in its mouth. He sucked in a lungful of air just as the blackness (sand, he figured out by the texture) covered him. It seeped in past him into the Bijuu's open mouth in a steady stream, and this time he knew that it was working to suffocate the chakra beast.

Ryo was promptly spat out with a large amount of sand. He was too dazed to get back up for a moment, so he just concentrated on breathing again. Then logic took over. Sasori had already gone out of his way to warn him twice; there was no way he was altruistic enough to do it again. He knew that an Akatsuki member would not stop a fight just to protect a kid. Ryo got up on his hands and knees, coughing up sand as he tried to get to his feet.

He looked up to see another puppet already out on the small battlefield. This one was possibly the oddest yet. If the white hair wasn't enough, it had a _mask_, a jounin uniform, and it was holding a ball of electricity in its hands. The puppet slammed said electricity down into the ground. Ryo groaned; that wouldn't do _anything_. Earth-based jutsus were weak against electricity-based ones, yes, but just hitting the rock itself wouldn't accomplish anything--and then he noticed that the puppet hadn't been aiming for the ground. It had hit the black sand.

Just as he realized that, the sudden jolt of electricity caught up. He was far enough away that it only gave him a jumpstart, thankfully. It was something he needed badly just then.

He leapt to his feet, brushing the rest of the sand off of himself in case the masked puppet decided to do that again. Oh, if only there was a source of water nearby, then he could at least use some water jutsus to protect himself, maybe help Sasori…

Ryo shook his head. _No, I'm not 'helping' him. Look where that got me last time_, he reprimanded himself, and took off running again. Zigzagging.

-.-.-

Two days prior, the Kyuubi changed their strategy. He chose a more aggressive one. Kaku had no problem with this. He would still get his immortal, he was assured (since they had _finally_ decided on which of them got their current captives), and he got one last hurrah as a demon in his part. Those without bodies yet were sent out to search for theirs; those with them were sent out to kill.

There were rumors of rebuilding shinobi villages. Shukaku had been sent to the south, to try to root out a possible rebuilt Sunagakure. Nekomata was sent to the north. Kumogakure seemed like the next likeliest to recreate their village. If the Bijuu could destroy all of shinobi-kind, things would be much easier for them. The last ninja bodies, with a virtually unlimited source of chakra? They could easily rule the rest of the human population. The entire world.

Kaku himself got the easy job. He was to guard their base and three occupants. The rest of his brothers and sister dispersed back into the world on their missions. He knew Raijuu was sent to capture the last Uchiha, the one Youko wanted. Hachimata was sent after his body, the other immortal. Isonade was sent to the eastern coast, to try to root out that elusive kunoichi that had been annoying them thus far, and Sokou was to rake the northern parts for similar potential bodies. The Shichibi had no idea where Youko himself was headed.

The Kyuubi had said, in an undertone just before he left, that he figured Sasori--Shukaku's body's Akatsuki partner--would try to attack their base to rescue the blonde human. The badger demon nodded gravely. Youko told him in no uncertain terms that he was to kill Sasori if he found him. He had gotten away several times before from Bijuu attacks, but that was to stop. If he wasn't useful for sealing purposes, then he needed to be eliminated. They couldn't waste their time trying to protect their bodies.

So Kaku was _elated_ when he finally caught sight of the cloud-emblazoned uniform. The three children traveling with him perplexed him a bit, but he didn't see why they mattered. They would die with Sasori and he wouldn't have to bother Youko with such trivial details such as that.

The best part was that Sasori hadn't noticed him initially. So the Shichibi had had time to go back to the base and gloat before his attack. "Oh, so I just saw this pretty little redhead--"

"Don't!" The future Jinchuuriki was already scrambling at the bars of his cell. He wasn't sure what he was trying to accomplish, short of pulling on his fur. Kaku smirked, and leaned down to share his joy. "Don't you dare touch him you filthy artless beast--"

"I'll bring you the corpse, how's that? _I_ wouldn't want to be sealed in your body when you're sad, after all. I'm not completely cold-hearted, and Shukaku and I are friends."

"No, you're just heartless!" Nekomata's body shouted, joining the blonde one by the bars of their cell.

"Sasori-danna will slaughter you and I hope he does, yeah," the other added savagely, glowering up at Kaku. The badger barked with laughter.

"I like that glare on you! It's simply delightful. Keep that expression for me, will you? It's very…artistic." Then he left.

He decided to go after the children first. After all, he knew that humans were amazingly attached to one each other, and especially to their young. Might as well get Sasori mad and twice as likely to make a mistake as he disposed of the little ones.

Youko had been right about Sasori's coming. In fact, they had counted on his loyalty. But even the Kyuubi was sorely lacking with a bit of his information. None of the Bijuu had any idea that there had been someone else tracking them. Someone else nearly to Akatsuki level and twice as pissed.

-.-.-

The Shichibi looked up as it sensed something coming towards it. Sasori looked on in shock as someone dropped out of the air, kicking downward with enough force to send the demon's head into the ground. Rock and dust showered them. Their sudden ally leapt away from the snarling Bijuu, landing lightly beside Sasori. His ponytail swung behind him as he turned to offer the redhead a rue grin. "Can't you take care of yourself?"

"And here I was worried you wouldn't catch up in time and miss all this fun," he replied dryly, waving his hand dismissively.

"Where's Hitomi? And Sei?" Neji asked. He was too serious to kid around, but then again, that was just him.

"…" Sasori shrugged. He saw them scamper off, and all he knew was that the Shichibi hadn't gone after them. "Hiding, I assume."

Before them, the demon suddenly melted into the stone once more. Sasori had the Sandaime draw all of its iron sand back up towards it, preparing for an attack anywhere. The Copy-nin puppet readied another _Chidori_. The Suna-nin doubted he had ever been as thankful as now that Kakashi had bothered to create the electrical jutsu.

The Shichibi knew that it was outnumbered and possibly even out skilled at this point. It wasn't particularly large, especially compared to the Hachibi or Kyuubi, and it was possible it felt as if it couldn't win against them. Would it flee? It definitely wasn't reappearing from the rock anytime soon. If it fled back to its base of operations, maybe they could find a way to track it, or go back to the Nibi's trail, and storm the place and rescue Deidara and the other two…

Then, as a shrill scream rent the evening air, the two realized that the Shichibi had no intention of fleeing.

-.-.-

"Ryo! Hitomi!"

His sister had been knocked out of his arms as the Shichibi suddenly appeared again, throwing Ryo down onto the two hiding children. As Seishirou was just about to jump down and try to help them, the demon scooped him up in a blunt paw, hoisting him back up into the air above the ravine. "My, what stupid humans you young ones are," it remarked.

All the way down the canyon, Hitomi screamed. The sound echoed all around them until it faded out of hearing range. How deep was the ravine? Or had they--had they hit the bottom? Seishirou tried jumping out of the Bijuu's paw, but it just caught him again with the other, playing with him like some sort of toy. "Let me go--!"

"You know, at least the redhead has the courtesy of matching his hair with the red on his uniform. You--no, you're just an ugly human. Grey clothing with orange hair? You'd stand out in a crowd, little ninja. Or are you trying to copy the great Pein?"

Seishirou froze, and looked up at the Shichibi in confusion. Copying Pein…? The leader of the Akatsuki? Why would he do that? _How_ would he? This was his normal outfit, and his hair had never been dyed…

Suddenly, the Shichibi was thrown into the far wall of the canyon, the genin knocked out of its paws. He caught himself on the rock just below the demon, attaching himself to the surface with chakra. Seishirou looked up as the beast fell downward towards him. "Oh my _god_--" Then he was promptly picked up and thrown bodily out of the way. He tumbled to safety on the other side of the canyon.

The Bijuu disappeared upon contact with the rock, and reappeared a moment later behind Seishirou. "Looks like you have quite the friends," it crooned, leaning down to growl in the boy's ear. It placed a paw on each side of him, its breath hot on his neck. He couldn't move without upsetting the beast; what now? Seishirou just remained frozen, trying not to panic. Panicking led to mistakes, after all.

"Stay away from him." Seishirou's head snapped around, nearly hitting the Shichibi's jaw. He _knew_ that voice, but was it really him?! He then alighted on just the man he wanted to see. The brunette picked his way delicately over the rocks, white eyes blazing.

"Da--" One look from his father was all he needed. He shut his mouth immediately when Neji sent him a hard glare. It was hard to misinterpret. Seishirou immediately ducked, just as he felt a rush of chakra-spiked wind blast overhead. The Shichibi was suddenly gone, and he took off running. Time to get out of there--and find Ryo and Hitomi.

"Where do you think you're going?!" the great beast snarled, cracking one of its several tails like a whip. The ground near Seishirou began to collapse under him--the only thing that saved him from falling away with the rest of it was Neji's shinobi reflexes.

"_Hakke Kuushou_!" Neji, with a thrust of his palm, shot a high-powered wave of chakra his way, knocking him several feet away. Seishirou hurt all over, but this was much better than the alternative. He scrambled to his feet before he even stopped tumbling, making a mad dash towards the canyon before the demon could do anything worse. He ducked under Sasori as he saw the redheaded blur coming, grateful that the Akatsuki member would be covering his exit, even if it was unintentional.

Seishirou left the battle behind as he descended the canyon. Granted, he stuck himself to the side of the rock and ran down, as opposed to how Ryo and Hitomi went down… It was deep. He couldn't even see the bottom. _How could they have survived that…?_

-.-.-

Ryo and Hitomi, contrary to Seishirou's anxiety, survived. Ryo wasn't the genius of his team for nothing, after all. He had managed to twist in midair and get to the side of the canyon, catching himself with some chakra in his feet. He then grabbed Hitomi's hand as she passed him and halted her fall, nearly pulling his arm out of its socket in the process. The sudden weight gain made him fall again, but they were near enough to the bottom that at least it didn't kill them when they hit it.

Though he was fairly certain his arm was broken. That wasn't good.

"Nngh… Are you alright?" She had better be. After all, _she_ was the one who landed on _him_.

Hitomi got up off of him, red-faced and teary-eyed. She just nodded. Ryo tried getting to his feet, and in that way, figured out he sprained his ankle or something like that; he couldn't stand. She hastily got up to her feet with a wince, helping to support him. "…Thank you…" she said faintly, looking down at her sandals.

"Ehh, no problem." Ryo blushed a little, pursing his lips. It was more instincts than anything, but he didn't want her getting the wrong idea… "So now we just have to get back up."

Both kids stared up at the sky above them, which was a small strip of light. Barely any of said light reached them. It would be a _long_ way to climb, especially if he couldn't walk. Hitomi leaned forward and looked around him, then back down the other way. "We could see where the bottom of the canyon leads… If it was carved by a river, chances are that it will open up somewhere downstream to where we can get out more easily."

"Good idea," he said, looking back and forth. "…But which way would be downstream?" He felt Hitomi shrug underneath his arm. Ryo narrowed his eyes, studying the rocks around them. There could be a hint somewhere around here… But there was nothing but horizontal layers in the stone. No indication of which way a river might have flowed. And it was relatively flat; no telling which way was downhill.

Ryo just picked a random direction. Left. And then started walking, trying very hard not to put that much weight on Hitomi. She soldiered well; she didn't complain or even stop to fix her hair when some of it fell into her eyes.

Above them, they heard several roars, each getting progressively angrier. Occasionally, rocks and other debris would fall down into the canyon behind them; they were left alone, and were relatively safe. For the moment. This they knew.

They limped and stumbled along. Then, all of a sudden, there was a clatter of rocks behind them, and they turned around in time to see Seishirou land neatly on his feet, bending his knees to absorb part of the impact. Ryo looked up at the strip of sky above them; Seishirou hadn't fallen, like they had. So he had come down here…to find them? "Oh god, you two are alive!" He rushed forward and wrapped his arms around both of them, momentarily lifting them until they all fell back onto their feet.

"Ryo saved me. He has a broken foot," Hitomi said in an overly loud whisper.

Ryo scowled. "Sprained ankle, more like it. I only broke my arm." He flopped his arm uselessly by his side as a demonstration. Seishirou's brow furrowed, but he didn't say anything. "How goes the battle above?"

"Sasori-sensei and dad are fighting the Shichibi. Winning, I think…"

-.-.-

'Winning' was not how Neji would describe his situation. 'Pissing the demon off until it went ballistic and killed them' is how he would have described it, if given the chance. He couldn't do much against the demon--his fighting style relied on pushing his own charka into others' bodies. He had no idea what that would do to a chakra beast, but he had a feeling that the results wouldn't be pretty. Or favorable.

So here he was, hands buried in the thick fur of the Shichibi, chakra burns covering his arms up to his elbows. Neji was, of course, hanging on for dear life. After an ill-timed kick, he had somehow ended up straddling the Bijuu, much to its annoyance. It was almost like riding a horse, granted a horse the size of a small house and one that hadn't been broken in yet. He didn't dare let go; the Shichibi would skin him alive with its claws if it caught him.

His weight did do a good thing, however. His knees were digging into the beast's shoulders, which hampered its movement, however slightly, and his weight was also slowing it down and making turning rather awkward. Not to mention the fact that he was pulling on the fur around its neck as hard as he could. Neji had effectively turned the seven-tailed Bijuu into nothing more than a clumsy, oversized target for Sasori.

Then again, while Sasori was skilled at many things, fighting raw chakra in animal form was one thing he wasn't so good at. He fought with weapons and poisons. Neither of them even knew if the Bijuu was susceptible to poisons. Neji had to give him credit for trying. He had successfully used his Sandaime puppet to trap the Shichibi's hind legs in its iron sand, and was working on tying down its front paws as well.

The demon reared back, flailing, bucking, anything to try to get Neji off and keep Sasori's sand away. It surely had to know that even a great Bijuu couldn't survive for long if it was completely immobilized. With its tails--those that were free--it was flinging rocks and boulders in random directions, while trying to get at an angle where they could pry Neji off of its back. Thankfully, it seemed as if even a Bijuu's spine couldn't bend that far, so he was safe. Relatively.

"Hurry the hell up, Sasori!" Neji shouted, losing his patience. It wasn't as if he could get down, but he would rather get off sooner than later.

"I don't see you trying this!" the redhead shouted back.

"I don't see _you_ trying _this_, either!"

"Get _off_ of me!" the Bijuu bellowed, raking its claws against the rock, trying to get purchase to kick its way free of the sand.

Finally, the Shichibi got lucky. One of its tails managed to clip Neji's shoulder, enough to knock him off balance and shatter his scapula. Grunting and ignoring the pain for now, the Hyuuga's last genius knew he had to act. Fast. One more jerky movement, and he'd be thrown off, and then it would undoubtedly go to hell soon afterward. Neji tried to get himself back up onto its back, but couldn't manage it.

Instead he just let himself hang on the Bijuu's shoulder for a brief moment, gathering chakra into his hands. Where his chakra met the demon's, the air hissed. He probably should have figured out that this would not end well at that point, but Neji went through with it anyway.

He had been originally planning on trying to sever the Shichibi's spinal cord. Even messing with its spine would do _some_ damage, he reasoned. It didn't work out that way, but looking back, perhaps that was for the best.

Neji pushed all of the chakra he could gather in that small amount of time downward, into his hands, and out. He placed them right between the Shichibi's shoulder blades, directly above the spine. And then he forced his chakra down into the demon's.

The resulting mixture of the two chakras, human and demon, for lack of a better word, _exploded_. Neji flew backwards away from the blast, tumbling over and over in the air, until he went sailing over the side of the canyon. He barely caught himself on the ledge, hauling himself back up with his good arm. He could feel the burns on his skin blistering, and he wouldn't be surprised if he heard every vital organ was internally bleeding at that point. He _hurt_.

It almost (_almost_) paid off when he saw what it had done to the Shichibi.

The beast was lying on its side, dark fur no longer bristling with chakra. Blood was already pooling all around it, steaming in the cool mountain air. All seven of its tails lay limply on the ground, splayed out at random angles, several of them probably broken. Along its back, its spine especially, the fur had been charred or completely burned away.

Sasori stood on the opposite side of it, looking as surprised as Neji had ever seen him.

Neji pulled himself away from the edge, spitting out a mouthful of blood. When he just coughed up more, however, he knew he had definitely hurt himself. At least the Shichibi was taken care of--

The demon shakily rolled over, and then pushed itself up onto its legs. Blood was oozing from its more severe burns, even if it was a much darker red than what the shinobi were accustomed to seeing. The nearly black liquid also dripped from between the Shichibi's open mouth, staining its white teeth scarlet. With lidded eyes, it turned its head either way, ears rotating, trying to find either Neji or Sasori. Neji knew from experience it was probably deaf right now; his ears were definitely ringing from the explosion. It looked dazed. They could use this to their advantage.

Its dark eyes finally alighted on Neji, pupils dilated. Its mind was racing, that much he could tell. It was thinking of some way out of this. Even impaired, it was a Bijuu, and it was trying to think its way out of this situation. Neji didn't know what had happened, really, and if its chakra was shorted out like it appeared, but either way, it was in trouble. It knew that, but at the same time, it wasn't completely defenseless; it was still larger than both of them combined, and it had teeth and claws sharp enough to disembowel him with a single swipe. He didn't know if it still retained any of its rock-based techniques.

Neji wasn't much better off; he wasn't even standing, for god's sake! He had a broken shoulder and maybe a rib, and something inside him was bleeding. He was deaf, too, but on that they were on equal footing. Not to mention all of the burns now covering his body…

The Shichibi laid its ears back, legs quivering. Then, it melted into the ground below, albeit much more slowly than it had before.

"Is it running?" Neji shouted, barely hearing his own voice. "Did the Shichibi just…_run_ from us?"

Sasori said something in reply, but he couldn't make it out. Neji grunted, and pushed himself up onto his feet, leaning against a nearby rock for support. He beckoned Sasori over, and then made him repeat what he'd said. "It's possible. Likely, even. But now that we've finally found a rather effective weapon against the Bijuu, it's just going to escape and tell the others about it…"

"Unless we can track it down and kill it. Then we'll keep the surprise of this weapon, and one less demon to contend with," the brunette said thickly. His hearing was gradually getting better, and the ringing was starting to fade away. Which meant that the Shichibi would be able to hear soon, too…

"I think I might know where it's retreating to…" Sasori set his chin in his hand, averting his eyes. "There was an old Akatsuki base near here…"

Neji opened his mouth to reply, when a roar cut him off. It was muffled by distance and his hearing impairment, but it echoed up from the canyon to their left. Then, barely audible, a scream followed it.

The Shichibi hadn't been retreating; it had been looking for the weapon to use against them, and it had found it.

-.-.-

Hitomi screamed, stumbling back as the Shichibi appeared in front of them. Without waiting for further prompting, the bleeding beast raised a massive paw and batted Seishirou aside. He hit the canyon wall with a sickening crack, and didn't get up again. The demon then turned on her and Ryo.

Blood was dripping out between its teeth and down its back, and its fur wasn't nearly as shiny as it had been before. The smell of charred fur and flesh reached her nose, and she almost gagged. This beast, no matter how injured, was still terrifying, and she didn't have time for such petty weaknesses. The little girl straightened slightly, pulling Ryo closer to her.

"Shit…" he breathed, pulling his arm off of her shoulders and forming signs. Nothing happened. "Shit! There's not enough water in the rocks to use!!"

The Shichibi sunk into a crouch, stalking closer to them. The pair backed up--right into the other canyon wall. Behind the demon, Seishirou stirred weakly. Hitomi bit her lip, trying to stop from screaming again. It would do no good, she knew. A good kunoichi would be silent now, thinking, instead of panicking, but she just couldn't help it…

"Hitomi, let go of me," Ryo said suddenly, through gritted teeth. She turned to him, white eyes large. "Let me go! Run!"

"No--"

"_Run_!" He gave her a shove, wobbling for a moment on his sprained ankle. Ryo glared at her until she took a step away from him, but even with that valiant act, it was still too late.

The Shichibi reached them, and picked Hitomi up with a curled paw. She had no more time than to gasp, before Ryo was scooped up as well. The demon regarded them for a few moments, ears pinned back on its skull. The two children stared, petrified, back.

Then, the Shichibi tossed them in the air, and caught them between its massive jaws. Hitomi felt the teeth pierce her skin, the force of it crushing the air out of her lungs that would have otherwise been expended in a scream. She heard a _crack_ from beside her--from Ryo. He groaned, eyes shut in pain.

The demon shook its head, whipping them both around and tearing them in its teeth. Hitomi felt tears blur her eyes; they were going to die. Just like this, dead from blood loss and broken bones and terror and maybe suffocation. Possibly whiplash. It continued to shake them like rag dolls, until finally it let them go. Or rather, _barely_ let them go. As it whipped its head around, it opened its mouth just enough to allow them to be flung out, the teeth tearing clothing and flesh as they were thrown out.

Hitomi hit the rock wall, dazed, but somehow still alive; she thought she'd be dead. She _must_ have died. There was no way they could survive this, after all. She didn't need to be a ninja to know that. The Bijuu were things to be feared, things that killed large numbers. She and Ryo and Seishirou would just add to that number.

The Shichibi walked languidly over to them, blood still dripping from its teeth, only now it wasn't just its own. The badger grinned at them, cocking its head to the side. It batted Hitomi to the side with its blunt paw, and then set it on Ryo's chest. It pressed down. _Hard_. Ryo grunted. Dissatisfied with the dull reaction, the Shichibi huffed. "So pathetic…" it murmured, and then, almost gently, picked him up between its forepaws. It took his arm in its mouth, picking him up by it, in order to rearrange him better.

Or so Hitomi had naively thought.

With a wet tearing sound, the Bijuu ripped Ryo's arm right off. He screamed in pain, suddenly alive again and writhing, trying to get away. The Shichibi delicately spat out the limb, and then grinned again, looking down its muzzle at the genin.

Hitomi watched, eyes wide. She couldn't do anything _but_ watch. She was hurt, she hurt all over, this was pain she hadn't ever experienced before, and she didn't know how to get past it. She didn't _want_ to. She was paralyzed with fear, with trauma, with distress. The Shichibi again took Ryo in its jaws, shaking him ferociously. Blood splattered all over the narrow canyon floor. Hitomi felt something wet on her cheek; she didn't know if it was tears, or blood, and _whose_ blood would have been a mystery.

Finally, the Shichibi gave up on Ryo, spitting him--or what was left of him--out near the canyon wall. The badger demon gave Hitomi a disdainful look, sniffing at the blood covering her. Then it walked over to Seishirou, two of its tails waving (the other five seemed broken). Hitomi tried to scream, but her throat had closed in on itself. Bloody tears dripped down onto her arm, which she was half-laying on where the Shichibi had thrown her.

Then Ryo groaned, and shifted slightly.

Hitomi had learned many things in her academy days, no matter how short those had been. She had learned to tell when an enemy shinobi was bluffing, and when they had a weapon tucked into their sleeve. She learned about different psychological syndromes that commonly plagued ninja. She had learned why some ninja behaved a certain way, and why they might behave another way the next day. She had learned about injuries of various kinds.

Even as an academy student, Hitomi knew what a mortal wound was. What Ryo had didn't even come close. It passed that mark a kilometer back.

Hitomi had also learned what a coup de grâce was. It was an open secret in the shinobi world. Almost no one would ever admit to performing such a thing, but it happened almost regularly. The children in the academy had been taught that such acts of mercy were looked down upon as a rule, but that shouldn't discourage them; their teacher had afterward lightened the mood with a wink and encouragement to buck a few of the rules.

That was nothing like what she was looking at now. Ryo's head lolled to one side, his remaining arm laying out perpendicular to his body. Something white and gleaming was sticking out of his elbow. One leg was laying out at an awkward angle; the other leg was straight down, but through the torn fabric of his pants, she saw that from the knee-down, it was hardly attached to his body. His black hair hung in his lidded eyes, and his normally light shirt was now dark with blood and dirt.

Suddenly, Ryo's hitai-ate, which was tied around her neck, felt very, very heavy. Hitomi rolled over, pain all but forgotten. She felt numbed. She couldn't look at Ryo, but when he coughed, she had to turn back to him. Her vision swam in tears. The young girl pushed herself onto her hands and knees, and then took a step towards him. His navy eyes flicked up into her direction, until he shut them a moment later. "Hi…to-mi," he whispered.

She nodded, unable to do anything other than that. She pushed herself up, until she was kneeling, and then somehow got to her feet. If the circumstances were any different, she would have been amazed at herself to do such a thing right then. But the pain was gone, and her body just followed her mental orders like a kicked dog.

Coups de grâce were looked down upon by normal ninja society.

Hitomi tottered over, not looking up when her father and her new teacher reached the canyon and raced over to save Seishirou. She was focused on Ryo; he was all that she saw. She couldn't bear to see anything else. If she had one thing, she could cling to that, and everything else could be safe in her memories, because she wouldn't look at them to see what had become of them. One thing. One thing was all she'd focus on. Ryo.

A coup de grâce was an act of mercy, a release for the suffering. As ninja, they saw suffering every day. They were told to deaden their sympathy for the world; the mission came first.

Ryo's kunai pouch had been flung off during the Shichibi's shaking. Hitomi stared at it in front of her feet, unable to comprehend the weapons inside.

A coup de grâce was an act of mercy. Only angels had mercy in this world. Mercy angels could save the suffering.

Hitomi found herself holding one of the knives in her hand. It was much too large for her tiny hand, and all at once, she realized that she was just a nine-year-old girl, not a kunoichi, not a genin, not anything. So she was a mercy angel.

She was standing over Ryo, watching his chest rise and fall laboriously. His black hair, which normally only hung over one eye, now shielded half of his face from her. His hitai-ate around her neck seemed to be choking her. Hitomi stared down at him, white eyes wide to stop the tears from falling any more than they had to.

Then, she turned as she saw movement in her peripheral vision. The kunai was hit out of her hands as she was suddenly pulled awkwardly against the Shichibi's chest, its paw pressing firmly against her chest. Its breath was hot against her exposed skin. "Back off now, or I will crush this little one like the twig it is," the demon growled, lips curling upwards. For the first time, really, Hitomi noticed her father and Sasori, the former standing protectively between the Bijuu and Seishirou.

Sasori had a grin on his face to match the Shichibi. In several places, his skin was as red as his hair. "You think a hostage is going to _save_ you?!" he shouted hoarsely, then laughed. Hitomi realized dully that Sasori had no more value on her life than anyone else's; she was nothing special to him; she was only there as a vague protection against her father.

A coup de grâce would also be fitting here, she realized with some sardonic amusement.

She didn't know what happened next. It was so confusing, and she could barely track either Sasori or her father's movements. They were both so fast compared to the quickness she usually considered 'fast'. Something caused the demon to drop her, and she fell to the ground gracelessly. There was a terrible roar--of pain or fury, she could not tell. Then the Shichibi swept her aside, into the rock face.

She heard a loud _crack_, or maybe it was a crunch. There was a flare of pain, and then, all of her body's pain mercifully vanished. Hitomi fell to the ground, eyes sliding shut. The last thing she saw was her father beating back the demon.

-.-.-

Next Chapter: Hitomi somehow survives, but at a great price. She's confined to limited movements for awhile, in which Sasori begins to lose patience; he agreed to meet back up with Neji, but Neji is nowhere to be found... Sasori leaves the children, and finds just what he's been looking for: Deidara.


	11. Reunion

Every time Hitomi woke up, she wiggled her toes, and then her fingers, all before she even opened her eyes. This came about from a rather scarring lesson in the academy about different types of injuries (the coup de grâce lesson followed that one, actually). There were bruises, there was internal bleeding, there were burns, there was the usual assortment of scrapes and cuts, and then there were broken bones.

Broken bones were some of the most terrible injuries you could get. Not only did it usually make the limb in question rather useless, or at the very least impaired in some way, it could cause many other injuries. A broken arm, for example, could come clean out of the arm itself, creating an entirely new wound where it cut the flesh. And a broken rib could easily puncture many organs, both vital and not.

There was one injury, however, that Hitomi never forgot about. Every time she woke up, she wiggled her toes and fingers, because for a week after that lesson, she had nightmares about spinal injuries.

That was the worst injury that could happen, in her opinion. It could kill you. It could paralyze you. It could cause pain and break other bones and was usually irreparable. Hitomi was _terrified_ of somehow hurting herself along the spine.

Eventually, her mother found out about this fear. She took Hitomi aside, and explained that spinal cord injuries were actually quite rare in the shinobi world, because only taijutsu could inflict it, and most shinobi fought facing each other, after all. Hitomi's fears would not be shooed away, however; she just absorbed all of this new information with large, solemn eyes.

In an effort to help calm her daughter, her mother told her that there was usually a very simple way to check to see whether or not she was paralyzed, if she had ever hurt her back. "Just wiggle your toes. If you can do that, and if you can feel it, then you're not paralyzed, Hitomi-chan. Many medic-nin will ask you this, as well. And why not wiggle your fingers? This way, you can be sure that you're completely fine."

Every morning since then, and even the sparse few times she had been knocked unconscious in a training exercise, Hitomi would awake, and wiggle her fingers and toes.

So when Hitomi awoke, she scrunched her eyes closed, and wiggled her toes with all her might. To her relief, she felt them move. Granted, her body's movements were sluggish and delayed, but she had feeling in her feet. Then, she wiggled her fingers as well, and was elated that they moved as well.

Then, she opened her eyes. The sky above her was dark, but there was a light near the corner of her eye; they had a fire. Was something on fire? No, either she had gone deaf or the world was silent. That was not the fire of chaos.

Suddenly, someone leaned over her and peered down at her face. Hitomi didn't register anything more than muddy brown eyes and a dull expression. "Wiggle your toes," the person commanded, and the voice made it clear that it was Sasori. She hadn't truly realized that he'd had brown eyes before; his scarlet hair usually drew her eye before anything else did.

She wiggled her toes, still staring up at him. She hurt, but it was a flat pain. This wasn't the acute pain of fresh wounds, or wounds that tended to bleed. So that, coupled with the darkness overhead, told her that time had elapsed while she was unconscious.

This knowledge was overshadowed by the panic that Sasori's words had wrought, once she realized their significance. If _he_ was telling her to wiggle her toes…she must have suffered some back injury. Spinal injury. What else had the Bijuu done to her…?!

Sasori leaned back, nearly out of her range of vision. "Good. We had no idea what condition you were in until you awoke… Do you know if there's any way to see if a Hyuuga has sustained brain damage?"

"…What?" she whispered in a low voice, unsure of whether or not this was some sort of riddle. Then, a moment later, Hitomi said accusingly, "You talk of my family as if we are a separate species."

Sasori rolled his eyes. "If you don't like it, let me blame it on habit," he replied in an equally quiet voice. Then, glancing at something over his shoulder, he elaborated, "Your eyes have the Byakugan, so they don't have pupils. A common test to check whether or not your brain stem is functioning is to shine a light in someone's eyes and see if the pupil constricts. I was wondering if, for this lack of visible pupil, there was some other way…"

So it had been an honest question. Hitomi moved to shake her head, but Sasori gave a start and hastily put a hand on each side of her face, keeping her still. She didn't like that; it couldn't be a good sign. So he was checking her for paralysis _and_ brain damage? _What_ had happened to her?!

"Don't move. A day isn't sufficient time for your back to heal. I was just seeing if you're still unimpaired and alive."

-.-.-

Seishirou had watched as the Shichibi had almost killed both Ryo and Hitomi. He had watched as Ryo's arm was torn off. He had watched as Hitomi killed Ryo for the sake of putting him out of his misery. Then he had watched as the demon nearly killed his sister as well.

He had watched Sasori and Neji finally drive off the Shichibi. Sasori was unstable; something had happened to tip him one way or the other. He fought like one possessed, one with nothing left to lose. Then his father finally had to lead the Shichibi away, in order to keep it away from his children.

He stared sullenly into the fire, knees drawn up to his chest. Ryo was dead. Miki was dead. Hitomi was as good as dead. His father was probably dead, too, and his mother and sensei and the whole of Kirigakure. The Bijuu were killing _everyone_.

Neji and Sasori had had an argument, before they left. It was short and loud. Sasori was more than willing to give chase to the Shichibi. Neji accused him of just wanting revenge for Deidara. Sasori then accused Neji of just wanting to get his princess back. Then, Neji had just pointed to where Hitomi's broken little body lay, and said in a thick voice, "Please, Sasori."

Then, Seishirou figured out that Akatsuki members had hearts. They just didn't like to use them often. Maybe logic finally took back over. Either way, Seishirou had watched as his father ran off to keep the Shichibi from coming back, and Sasori just walked over to inspect Ryo's body. Hitomi had been about to deliver the final strike, and in a way, she did: when she was picked back up by the demon, the kunai had fallen from her hands, just high enough that it had enough force to land neatly over his heart. Seishirou wasn't sure if Ryo had actually _died_ from it, or rather from his injuries, however.

Seishirou escaped the fight with a broken leg and a conglomerate of bruises and scrapes.

Ryo didn't escape.

Hitomi almost didn't, either. Her left shoulder was dislocated, she had a black eye, several puncture wounds from the Bijuu's teeth, and a broken back. The Bijuu, when it threw her into the stone wall that last time, and snapped her spine in two places.

She was unconscious for two full days. Seishirou didn't stop crying for that entire time. Then, just as the sun went down, he ran out of tears, and he figured that Hitomi had finally died.

He had gone off to bury Ryo's body while Sasori made a camp and took care of Hitomi. He hadn't known what the puppeteer had done while he was gone.

So he looked up sharply when he heard Hitomi's voice. Sasori was partially shielding her from his view, but he quickly rectified that by standing up, listening to the joints crack. His leg gave a painful twinge, but he ignored it. They'd given him a splint, and that was the best they could do for the time being, without a medic. He limped over. Hitomi's large eyes immediately went to him. "Hitomi…"

"Oh, are you done moping now?" Sasori asked politely as Seishirou sat down beside his sister. Seishirou didn't reply. "Since you're both here, there's a few things we need to talk about."

Hitomi's eyes went back to Sasori. Seishirou, after a brief moment, copied the movement. The redhead sighed heavily, and then turned more fully towards the two children.

"Yes, what happened two days ago was a tragedy. No doubt you're both feeling many different human emotions that you ought to get rid of but just quite can't. I'm here to tell you that you need to get rid of them _right now_." Seishirou's polite stare slipped into a hard glare. Sasori's lip curled slightly, but he continued regardless. "You're going to lose comrades. It's inevitable. That's why it's your job as shinobi to try your damn hardest to protect them and stop that from happening so frequently.

"But that's neither here nor there. Let's focus on the present, hmm? The past is usually only useful when there's a lesson to be learned," he said, "Human beings are _not_ eternal or particularly long-lived creatures. Eventually, they will break, such as in Hitomi's case."

Seishirou looked at her as she sucked in a sharp breath. "Haven't you told--?"

"No." Sasori paused a moment, and then said bluntly, "Hitomi, your spine was broken in two places."

Seishirou growled, and hit Sasori as hard as he could on the shoulder. The redhead didn't flinch. "Don't just say it like that, you insensitive asshole!"

Sasori looked at him, eyes unreadable. "…You're quite like your mother."

Seishirou huffed, and crossed his arms. Hitomi closed her eyes, exhaling with a soft sigh. "That…does not matter now, Seishirou. The fact of the matter is that this was a great tragedy that cannot be easily fixed. Ryo… Ryo is dead, and now I am of even less use than before…" Her voice had dropped down into a whisper by the last sentence.

"You're not useless--you-you still have your Byakugan, and we--we can--" Seishirou burst out furiously, but Sasori cut him off with a hand on his shoulder.

"She's not going to be any more of a liability than what she was before, so calm down. I've been tinkering with the human body since I was a child; I know how to repair its damage," he said irritably. After a beat, Sasori continued, a bit more subdued, "Her broken bones are mending, and all internal bleeding has been stopped. Other than feeling sore, she should be fine."

"But…my spine…?" Hitomi prompted faintly.

"I replaced it. I've created artificial spines before, though never for a still living human… So I'm not sure about some of the details. Right now, its entirely dependent on your chakra, keeping it flexible and together, in addition to connecting your nerves back to it. If your chakra were to, say, run out, however, I have no idea what could happen. It could snap back to rod-straight, it could fall apart completely--though hopefully the rest of your body should keep it from shifting too much--or it could go completely limp. Any of those could render you incapacitated, which, in a fight situation, would be as good as death."

"…you _replaced_ it?" If possible, her voice sounded weaker than before. Seishirou, too, was unable to comprehend what he'd just heard, really. Hitomi had a _new spine_? It fed off of her chakra, but…what was it made out of? Was it a puppet spine? What if her chakra should fail her, some day? And what about years from now? Her body wasn't done growing, so how could an artificial spine cope with that…?

"Oh yes. I actually have yours in my bag if you'd like to see it--"

Hitomi promptly fainted.

-.-.-

Hitomi was confined to laying down for the next week. After that, she could only sit up for a week, but after that, she could finally try standing.

She didn't want to do any such thing. At first, Seishirou was worried that she was in pain, but Sasori dismissed that. "She's just being irrationally shy."

"Why?"

"Her kimono is lying over there. Or what's left of it."

Seishirou was soon trying to find a replacement outfit for his sister so she could have something other than the thin blanket she currently lived under. He only came up with an extra shirt. It was a start, but a pathetic one. Hitomi stayed underneath her blanket, barely coming out to eat or speak with either of them.

"Hitomiiii-chaaaan, can't you just wrap the blanket around yourself…?" Seishirou tried coaxing her out of her cocoon. To no avail, unfortunately. So he just sat by her, dourly eating his soup. "We need to get going…"

"To where?" Sasori asked politely, playing shogi with one of his puppets. During this useless time, he had whittled several game pieces out of stone, and after thrashing Seishirou at a single game, now occupied himself by playing against one of his many puppets.

"Somewhere. Anywhere. Didn't you say you knew where we were going?" he asked shrewdly, glaring at Sasori. "Why _are_ we staying here?"

"I was under the presumption that we were waiting for your father."

Hitomi rolled over so that she faced them both, propping herself up on one elbow. Sasori's brow furrowed, and he said, "You shouldn't be twisting your back like that just yet. I don't feel like replacing another one of your spines." She paled, and immediately lay back down without saying a word.

"Why has he not returned yet, then?" she asked, staring up at the stars.

"The Shichibi hasn't returned, either, so look at that instead. Glass half full instead of half empty," he replied, moving a piece on the board. Yet again, he won. "But I suppose you two are tired of eating wild game, so we could make a supply run…"

"Hitomi-chan can't be moved," Seishirou said immediately.

"Then leave her."

"No!" She said it with such a ferocity that it surprised even Sasori. Blushing, she amended, "Please…do not leave me alone…"

Neither of them left for supplies after that admission.

-.-.-

Sasori had waited a month. A _month_. Neji didn't come back for them. He wasn't quite sure what that meant, but he had had it. Deidara was less than a week away, but Sasori had waited and babysat and even saved the little girl's life. And all of that waiting only reminded him of one, single thing.

He _hated_ to be kept waiting.

So one night, while both Seishirou and the little girl were both asleep, Sasori stood up, put out the fire, and went on his merry way. Hitomi was well enough to be moved, if she was careful, and Seishirou could find food for them. He wasn't worried about the children. He was worried about Deidara.

It was easy to find the path, even in the dark. He didn't have remarkable night vision, but he was stubborn. Sasori picked his way through the rocks and stones, steadily heading northwest, ears open for any foreign sounds. He tried to keep as silent as possible, but even he couldn't manage that on the loose gravel. Iwa territory was Deidara's forte, not his.

By dawn, he came to the canyon again. The stench of blood was gone from the area, time slowly blowing it away. Sasori just took a running start over the narrowest part and leapt across it, landing carefully on his hands and feet on the other side. No Bijuu ran out to greet him, so he just kept going.

Three days of constant traveling later, Sasori was in sight of the old Akatsuki lair. It would be ironic if the Bijuu really were housed there, but in a way, it would make sense. It was a massive place, and it was defensible. Not to mention that no one knew where it was, save the Akatsuki members.

He didn't see any live demons, but he did count several tracks, even if they were all leading _away_ from the building. Except for one. Four paws, several tails dragging behind it, and dripping blood the entire way. It _had_ to be the Shichibi. Sasori didn't find any human footprints.

The Suna-nin crept closer to the fortified building, thankful for the darkness. So chances were the Shichibi was here…and so was Deidara. Not to mention Hidan and Hinata as well. And if he was lucky, the seven-tailed badger might have already died from blood loss or something. Even if Sasori wasn't that lucky, he still stood a chance of keeping the element of surprise, and the Shichibi was still wounded. By the time he was pressed up against the outer wall, he was feeling more than confident.

He carefully edged around the building, looking for his old entrance in. Each of the members had their own way in, more from habit than anything else. As Sasori crept into the window, however, he paused.

_That demon…it had said that Deidara was already--no_, Sasori shook his head to clear the thought from his mind. Deidara wouldn't give up so easily, and somewhere in this building, he was alive, and no doubt busy snarling at the Shichibi.

The redheaded Akatsuki member snuck into the building, blinking in the sudden darkness. There weren't any lights on. Did the demons not know how to work light switches? Sasori peeked his head out into the hallway, a bit relieved that there were at least torches lining the walls. Even he couldn't see in complete darkness.

He crept silently down the corridor, crouching, on edge. His body was tense; at a moment's notice, he could whip out a weapon or a summoning scroll. He noticed the lingering smell of blood, but he easily blamed that on himself. The Akatsuki had been a more vicious group when they inhabited this place; Hidan was still practicing his rituals at all hours of the day; they had captured several Ame-nin to interrogate, torture, and eventually kill to tip the civil war in their favor. He honestly wouldn't doubt it if the entire building reeked of blood because of them.

Sasori reached the first holding cell, but it was empty. No matter. There were three others. But when he reached the second, the biggest, he was slightly disconcerted. If they were still here, he would have thought that they'd be held in there…

Then, Sasori found the Shichibi.

He nearly woke it, too. The demon was curled up in one of the rooms adjacent to the hallway, snoring softly. It was still injured and missing patches of fur, but it seemed a lot healthier than what Sasori would have guessed. _…Of course, accelerated healing_, he noted, a bit grumpy that he forgot about such a thing.

He quietly tiptoed past, and knew he'd find either bodies or shinobi in the next cell. After all, why else would the only Bijuu in the place be sleeping next to that particular holding cell?

Sasori rounded the corner, and found three human-sized lumps behind a wall of bars. Hidan was propped up against the far wall, head down on his chest. Deidara was in the nearest corner, in a similar position, except for that Hinata was using his lap as a pillow. All three of them were sound asleep.

Sasori knelt down besides them, his cloak rustling around his ankles. He set one arm on his knees, the other reaching between the bars to gently touch Deidara's shoulder. Just as his fingers made contact, the blonde's hand came up and grasped his wrist, and his eyes snapped open, glaring at him. Until he recognized him.

"Sasori…"

"No danna?" he whispered in reply, lips curving in a smirk. By then, Hinata had also snapped to attention, her white eyes reflecting the torchlight as she stared up at Sasori. Hidan's eyes, too, were open and reflecting the flickering flames, until he finally got up and sauntered over, silent as a cat. Soon, all three prisoners were kneeling around Sasori, expressions solemn.

"How did you find us?" Hinata whispered, frowning. "What of Kirigakure?"

"The Nibi wasn't exactly difficult to track." Sasori glanced down the hall, where he had passed the slumbering Shichibi. "I didn't stay around to ask about Kiri. I left as soon as I woke up."

Deidara reached through the bars, resting his hand lightly on Sasori's shoulder, uncomfortably close to his neck. The only thing between their skin was the collar of his uniform. Still serious, Deidara said, "The Shichibi had told us all that it was going to kill you, yeah…"

"It told me that you three had already died. The beast obviously lies," Sasori hissed in reply.

"I ain't dying anytime soon." Hidan sat down, giving his knees a rest. "You know…these idiotic animals already have a lot of their stupid fucking 'plan' planned out."

Sasori cocked his head to one side. "I thought it was just to capture us for Jinchuuriki."

"There's dissent among their ranks. They don't trust each other any more than the Akatsuki did," Hinata said quietly. "They were arguing about who got our bodies…though they've decided by now. Hidan is going to the Shichibi, supposedly."

"Anyone else decided?"

"The Ichibi," Deidara pointed at himself, and then jerked a thumb over to the Hyuuga kunoichi, "and the Nibi, yeah. We think that either the Hachibi or Kyuubi wants Kakuzu. And the Gobi had Zetsu…but they're both dead now, yeah…"

Sasori closed his eyes, giving Zetsu a moment of silence; he was slightly pained that another Akatsuki member had died, especially without their knowledge. They were down to four, and that was if Kakuzu was still alive. …Though it wouldn't stay that number, not for long, unless Sasori sprung his partner and the other two from this prison. "Okay, back up. I'm cutting down these bars--"

"No!" all three of them burst out in furious whispers, enough to make Sasori jump. He widened his eyes and blinked. Hinata continued, lowering her voice once more so that they didn't wake the sleeping Bijuu next door. "Sasori-san, you have to leave us here. You have to go warn Sasuke and his group. The Rokubi was dispatched to capture all of them just a few days ago. We _can't_ let the demons get any more bodies!"

"Then why can't I spring you three now--?" Once again, he was cut off by loud whispering.

"Are you retarded or something?! That would wake the Shichibi, dumbass!" Hidan snarled. "There are so fucking many alarm jutsus on this cell, I'm pretty damn surprised you managed to get this far without tripping any."

Sasori instinctively let go of the bars he was gripping, making sure to make no more sudden movements. "…I'm not going to leave you," he said firmly, hell bent on rescuing them, regardless of what beast's wrath he incurred. The Shichibi was already wounded; four shinobi could easily take it down.

Deidara reached through the bars again, this time pushing Sasori roughly backwards. "Get out of here and go warn the Uchiha brat, yeah! We'll be fine; they don't want to seal any of themselves into bodies until they all have one."

Sasori shook his head fiercely. "I trekked across the country and overcame too many obstacles to just _give up_ now."

"It's not giving up!" Hinata exclaimed. "It's stalling."

"Look, this is the best damn chance we've got at a breakout. The Shichibi is wounded, and we're all in fair enough health. We already know the Shichibi's weakness in combat--" Sasori had purposely worded it that way, to see whether or not they had met up with Neji. Judging on their pathetically hopeful expressions, he decided that they hadn't. _So then, where are you, Hyuuga?_ Sasori asked himself.

"What weakness?!" Hidan asked, eyes glinting.

"…Foreign chakra mixing with their own creates an explosion that shorts out their chakra and causes some pretty heavy damage. In other words…"

"…the _Juuken_ is their weakness," Hinata finished for him. The redhead nodded grimly. That put a whole new spin on things, and it highlighted the fact that Sasori was _not_ going to leave the three of them there if he could help it. Hinata smiled, a bit evilly, but then reached through the bars and pushed at Sasori again. "If we know that, maybe we'll stage our own breakout. But not when you're in the building and can get hurt. Go--warn Sasuke. They can _not_ get the last Uchiha."

Hadn't he just gotten done explaining that?! "I'm not going to--!"

"Go!" all three of them whispered angrily, pushing him through the bars. Sasori's face hardened and he stood his ground. Deidara leveled a glare with him, and hissed, "If they get Uchiha, they're probably going to seal right away. Right now, we have time. If they capture Uchiha, we don't, yeah."

"Then why not right now?" Sasori persisted.

"You try to spring us and every demon within twenty-five kilometers will flock here," Deidara growled, narrowing his visible eye. Sasori couldn't help but notice that his eye seemed more grey than blue right then. Maybe it was his anger--or frustration?--or maybe it was just the dim lighting. Blue was much more attractive, but the blonde gained a certain feral quality in return.

Unfortunately, Sasori didn't need to find this out the hard way.

Because all of a sudden, he sensed something behind him, and felt a blast of hot air on the back of his neck. He slowly turned around, taking in the trio's horrified expressions before he did so. The badger demon, eyes lidded from either sleep or pain, stared down its muzzle at him, snorting at him again.

-.-.-

Seishirou helped Hitomi up. After waiting two days and two nights for Sasori to return, they were forced to give him up. Hitomi clung to her brother tightly, the blanket wrapped around her torso like a bizarre dress. Her stuffed chicken was under her arm; rarely, too, had she let that out of her grasp since Sasori's departure. Holding the blanket against her chest tightly, she fixed her hair as best she could, making Seishirou stand still with a mirror for her. She then turned around and demanded politely (if such a thing was possible, she managed it) that he make sure the back of her head was fine.

Instead, Seishirou found himself staring at the scar that ran vertically down her back, right over her spine.

"Seishirou…" Hitomi said warningly. He honestly didn't know whether she thought he was looking at the scar, or maybe she was just annoyed that he wasn't fixing her hair. Seishirou combed his fingers through the short black locks a few times to please her; Hitomi's wrath was not something he wished on anyone (maybe not even the Bijuu).

"Hitomi-chan, are you…are you ready to go?" he asked timidly, mostly because after she deemed her hair adequate, she began stretching, starting with her arms over her head. Aside from hearing several of her new artificial joints (and some that weren't, he hoped) cracking, the blanket fell from her body, pooling around her feet. Seishirou teleported across their camp, his back to her and red-faced. He wasn't comfortable whenever Hitomi's lack of shame surfaced. Ryo--and his sensei, even!--always joked about how he would have to turn gay if he ever wanted to get laid, he was so embarrassed about female nudity.

_Ryo…_Seishirou hung his head. Wow, this day was just going from bad to worse. "Hitomi-chan… We need to get you an actual outfit."

"How do you propose we do that?" she asked coolly, coming up beside him. Seishirou hadn't heard her approach, but it wasn't like he jumped. Very high.

"I have a few extra shirts, for starters."

They spent their third day fashioning a new outfit for Hitomi. Hopefully one that wouldn't leave her half naked whenever she moved her arms. She borrowed all three of Seishirou's extra shirts, layering them, and then firmly tied half the blanket around her waist as a skirt. It was suitable, he supposed. Seishirou felt his eyes drawn to her neck, where Ryo's hitai-ate was still hanging. Hitomi watched him with a guarded expression, ready to go on the defensive should he remark on it.

He didn't.

"Let's go."

They headed back east. Because, after all, where else was there to go? West only held demons and dead people. Ryo, their father, their mother, Sasori, Deidara, all of them…except the Bijuu. The demons were immortal, after all, weren't they? It was slow progress, but it was progress nonetheless. Seishirou stopped frequently to consult his map; they didn't want to get too close to any villages right then. People already didn't like shinobi, and they could barely fend for themselves anymore, let alone take on angry villagers.

After two weeks on their own, Sasori suddenly came back.

Or rather, he just happened to pass by them. He stopped long enough to point south, and say in an overly loud voice, "Run."

Of course neither kid did any such thing. Both of them stuck to their Akatsuki body guard once more, Hitomi actually taking that literally. They couldn't detach her from Sasori's hand without breaking her fingers. Not that Sasori hadn't tried. It nearly came down to a fight--what a fight _that_ would have been, a couple of kids against an Akatsuki member--but Hitomi settled it simply when she swapped Sasori's hand to her other, and wrapped her newfound free arm around his waist, wedging herself between his arm and side. With this new position, even Sasori couldn't have detached her without some effort on his part.

"Where have you been? We missed you, Sasori," she said contentedly.

"Let go--I have something I need to do!" He squirmed, visibly upset over this setback. Seishirou watched him, tense; he had demonstrated several times that he was no friend of theirs. What had called him back in their direction? Guilt? Or had something happened that forced him to head back east?

"It can wait," Hitomi said, just as calmly as her previous remark.

"No, it can't! I hate waiting. I hate making others wait, too. So--let--me--go--!" Sasori tried to pull her off of his waist, but Seishirou intervened, scared he'd hurt her. "What are you two doing, anyway?! I told you to run!" Sasori was close to panicking. That was more than unusual. It set the hair on the back of Seishirou's neck standing straight up, in fact. Sasori was jaded; he was a veteran of more wars than they could imagine. He had just fought with the Shichibi only a few weeks ago. _Had_ something happened? Or…was something _going_ to happen…?

"What's going on?" the genin asked, holding him out at arm's length. He wasn't that much shorter than Sasori, and with Hitomi pulling him down, the height different was nearly eradicated. Seishirou used this to his advantage, but even so, Sasori was several ranks above him. If the redhead wanted, they'd both be dead by now. Panic only made this situation more dangerous.

Sasori took a deep breath, and grit his teeth together. "The Rokubi is in the area. It's trying to take down Uchiha Sasuke."

Now why did that name ring a bell?

"And if it manages to capture him, then they are going to proceed with the sealing. Because… We're too troublesome. Now will you let go of me?!"

"The sealing? Of…the humans?" Hitomi asked, nuzzling her face into Sasori's side. He rolled his eyes and continued trying to separate her from his waist. "…Of mother?"

_Where have I heard the name Sasuke before?_ Seishirou wondered. He didn't even hear what Hitomi said.

"Yes! So let go--I have to go stop the Rokubi before that can happen!"

"We can help."

"Hardly. The only thing you two could be used for is bait," he replied harshly.

Hitomi didn't mind. Her cheek still pressed against the black fabric, her eyes closed, and her lips curving gently upward, she said, "I would be bait for such a noble cause. I would be bait for you. You may use us as bait all you'd like."

That jarred the genin boy out of his thoughts. He snapped back to attention, eyes wide. "Hi-Hitomi-chan! You can't just _say_ something like that!!" It wasn't so much that she'd offered; he was more worried that Sasori was cruel enough to use it against her. Akatsuki members were ruthless, uncaring shinobi. Surely they wouldn't be averse to using small children as shields…

Hitomi opened one large, ashen eye. "I mean it. If it will save mother, then I will do it. The Bijuu must be stopped after…all they have done…" She trailed off, ending on a high note. Suddenly flushing, she let go of Sasori's hand and buried her face in his uniform, clutching the fabric around her. "Do we not wish to save lives, Seishirou? That is what is taught at the ninja academy. We are to save lives and carry out the mission. Well, my mission is to save our parents and stop any more deaths at any cost!"

Seishirou faltered, his hand trembling uncertainly in the air between them. She wasn't even a genin, and yet she had the shinobi mentality already. Worse: she was an idealistic ninja. Those were dangerous. Though still a genin, Seishirou had been on enough missions to get all useless, unrealistic optimism crushed out of him. Hitomi turned her head, slightly, just enough to glare out at her older brother from behind the black fabric.

Sasori's hand suddenly fell lightly on her head, patting her hair. Hitomi jumped slightly, and then looked up wonderingly at him. Sasori smiled, eyes lidded, and suddenly Seishirou felt the age gap vanish between them. He looked like a child, an angelic little one who had never bloodied his hands not even once.

It was terrifying.

"Do you really believe in that?" Sasori asked airily, still smiling.

Seishirou gaped as his sister nodded, probably offering herself up to death right then and there (he was reminded of a painting he's one seen, one of a young girl being sacrificed to some heathen beast). He knew Sasori was an Akatsuki member, and he knew that the Akatsuki was the group of the most bloodthirsty, ruthless, deceitful, cruel, sadistic, untrusting ninja their world had spawned over the last few generations. They were to be killed on sight and never were. They had bloodied their hands so much they stained the dawn of their new world with it.

The Akatsuki-nin were supposed to be feared, unable to be trusted, to be the things of nightmares. Seishirou had known this all along, but it felt as if all of this knowledge had just caught up with him now in one solid blow.

"Do you really believe in that," he had asked. What a horrible thing to ask a naïve, impressionable young girl who trusted just about every pretty face to come along. There ought to be a law against such things. It should be a mortal sin, but here it was. Sasori was still looking down his nose at Hitomi, eyes lidded, smiling faintly, expression cherubic. Hitomi stared up at him, eyes shining like starlight.

He felt his stomach churn uncomfortably. The more he thought about it, the more Seishirou honestly thought he'd throw up.

And just as he felt his throat burn, Sasori said calmly, "What a load of immature shit."

-.-.-

Next Chapter: Sasuke and his group reenter the scene! The Rokubi took the wrong group to take on, that's for sure. Sasori manages to come to the 'rescue', however, just in time. Meanwhile, a distraught Hitomi and an annoyed Seishirou meet up with a kid their own age. What's he doing there, and why doesn't he know who the Akatsuki are?


	12. Move

Sasuke looked up calmly as he felt the air around him crackle; it was with electricity, of course. For the first time in over a decade, it wasn't from his own. He didn't feel any more interest for the sight that met his coal black eyes than he would have felt seeing a butterfly float by.

There was a massive six-tailed weasel standing across the clearing from him, perched on splintered trunks. Its short, glossy fur stood on end from the raw electricity this creature flowed through it. Its numerous tails were bristling and its hackles were raised, as if it were a dog. Or did weasels do that, too? Sasuke wasn't sure. The closest he'd ever gotten to a weasel was Itachi…

Karin didn't even look up from the fire she was tending. Suigetsu only gave a passing glance to the tailed demon. He continued washing the blood off of one of his many swords. Sasuke lazily rotated his head over towards his teammate, feigning interest in him. He had collected five of the seven swords he'd set out to snag, and took care of them like he would a child. No--better than a child. Sasuke knew Tomozou had never been cleaned so thoroughly.

The kid was long gone by now. Of course he was; none of them wanted to risk his life, or have him get in the way. Karin had sensed the Bijuu kilometers off, and now her son was circling around it southward. They didn't worry about him. He was probably a chuunin rank by now, and had the emotional disposition towards blood of a jounin. He'd be fine.

Sasuke finally returned his gaze to the Rokubi when he felt a zing of static electricity run through his skin. The demon's warning shot. No doubt it had the power to summon a thunderstorm and strike them all down with bolts of lightning, or maybe even the raw electricity to flood the forest with it and electrocute them all.

Uchiha Sasuke slowly got to his feet, pushing his traveling cloak back behind his shoulders. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Karin stood up as well, and Suigetsu had stopped paying such meticulous attention to his sword. Sasuke was still the leader of this team. Nothing, least of all time, had changed that.

"Uchiha Sasuke," the weasel growled, pulling back its lips in a silent snarl, "You are coming with me."

Sasuke closed his eyes, sighed, and tilted his head to one side. It was as if he was thinking. Still resting his cheek against his shoulder, he reopened crimson eyes. "No."

-.-.-

"What?" Hitomi asked, tilting her head to one side. Some of her hair fell out from behind her barrettes; she scowled at this, but for the moment, she was more intent on Sasori's last statement.

"Such a stupid dogma…" Sasori shook his head, his smile vanishing in favor of a smirk. All at once, he lost his angelic countenance. He even _laughed_, a harsh, grating sound that did nothing to restore his former innocence. Hitomi felt her grip slacken, mostly from shock. The Suna-nin took the opportunity to pull her hands off his uniform, and stepped away from her before she could do anything about it. "Maybe I'll come back for you two when you shape up into some real shinobi."

Then, he disappeared from their lives yet again. Hitomi felt a shiver run down her spine, and all at once, her eyes filled up with tears. This was the second time Sasori had betrayed her--them--by leaving. How could he do such a thing? She ran in the direction he had vanished, tripping over her skirt and the loose stone below. Hot tears stung her eyes, but she just blinked them back and tried to clear her sight. He couldn't have been that far; he couldn't just leave them-- "B-Byakugan!" Desperately, she activated her bloodline limit as she ran. The world around her inverted and, dizzy from the expanded field of vision, she finally tripped and fell, pitching forward, only instead of the ground coming to meet her, there was nothing.

"Hitomi-chan!" Seishirou shouted behind her.

It was a small hill, really, but the sudden lack of ground and the sensation of falling, mixed in with her 360 degree vision, made it all too much for her. Hitomi hit the ground five meters below, landing weak-kneed on her feet. She collapsed immediately to her knees, and emptied her stomach, turning off the Byakugan as she did so.

Sasori had been nowhere near, anyway…

"Oh my god, that was _not_ attractive."

Hitomi's head snapped up as she heard someone speak. Someone who was _not_ Seishirou. …Or Sasori. Behind her, her brother skidded down the hill, running up behind her. "Hitomi-chan--"

Hitomi looked at this newcomer. He was back lighted by the setting sun, washing out already pale hair, and the fringes of his outfit, bathing the rest of the person in twilight. Whoever this was had chin-length hair, and if she hadn't just heard his voice, she would have guessed it was female.

For one strange, brief, dizzying moment, she wondered if she had gone to heaven.

The boy placed a hand on his hip, swinging his weight to that leg. He looked right, then left, and then back at them. "Who are you?" he finally asked, as if they were intruding. Maybe they were. It wasn't as if they knew this area.

"Who are _you_?" Seishirou shot back, sinking into a fighting stance. Hitomi coughed, then spat to clear out her mouth a bit. She shakily stood up. Now she wasn't only dizzy, she was slowly getting hungry. Probably because her stomach was splashed on the ground in front of her. This pale-haired boy in front of them narrowed his eyes. Because of the backlighting, it was hard to tell the exact color, but she noticed that they were light in color. Like hers.

_Maybe he is some sort of angel_, she thought, wiping her mouth on her wrist. _But…Sasori had also looked like an angel, and look what he did…_

"I'm next in line for the throne." The kid laughed, shaking his head lightly. Hitomi frowned, wondering what that meant. There were no more emperors or kings anymore in these lands, unless some sort of small kingdom had sprung up without Kirigakure noticing, which was unlikely, of course. Kirigakure knew everything about the world; it was one of their last defenses. "You know, there's a demon on the loose right now. What are a couple of kids doing wandering around these parts?"

He couldn't have been older than Seishirou, but his arrogant tone reminded both of them of Sasori.

"We are looking for Sasori. He looks like he is a teenager, and he had red hair and brown eyes, and he is wearing an Akatsuki uniform--" Hitomi felt Seishirou's hand clamp over her mouth to prevent her from saying anything else.

"…Akatsuki? What's that?" He cocked his head, blinking in confusion. Hitomi frowned beneath her brother's hand; what kind of front was _that_? _Everyone_ knew who the Akatsuki were, so it was no use pretending not to…

"…" Seishirou glanced down at her, then back up at the stranger. "…Black, high-collared cloak. Red clouds with a white outline."

"Oh, him? He just passed me. Called me a little ingrate." The boy pointed over his shoulder, then looked back at them. The pair opposite him exchanged a glance; yup, that matched Sasori's description. "So what _is_ your business here…?"

"What's yours?" Seishirou asked, his hand still tight over Hitomi's mouth. She blinked a few times, clearing up the last vestiges of her tears over Sasori's departure. If this boy had seen him, then he couldn't have gone far, and it meant they could still catch up to him--

"I told you. I _live_ here. Is that a crime, now?" He put both hands on his hips, swinging his weight to the other leg again. "And I can tell you right now that I'm not stupid. You bunch of kids had better get out of here, with your little uniforms--though yours don't match his--and better head for the hills. Like I said, the Bijuu is here, and it's not going to be a pretty battle. Of _course_, my father and mother and Sasuke-san are going to kill it, but no telling how much carnage will--"

Seishirou let go of her, opting for a more blunt approach to this high and mighty kid. In a flash, he was behind the pale-haired boy, holding him in a full nelson to keep his hands apart, resting his chin on his shoulder. "You, shut up. You're not fooling anyone with this act, so just tell us which direction Sasori-sensei went, and we'll let you go."

The kid suddenly grinned, and leaned his cheek against Seishirou's. Hitomi watched in amazement as, faster than Seishirou, the kid reached back, grabbed hold of the back of his captor's shirt, and pulled him over his head. Seishirou's head slammed into the ground as the kid jumped forward after impact, pinning him with his feet. "What was _that_ supposed to be, huh? Some sort of attack? I bet you're just a little genin, aren't you?" he cooed, kneeling down on the ginger-haired boy's back. He then turned back up to Hitomi, grinning even then.

Hitomi stared, dumbfounded, in return. No one had _ever_ beaten her brother…at least, no one in their age group. And here was this kid out of the blue, beating him effortlessly. Behind him, the sun finally set, ridding the scene of the orange highlights.

"So let's start with the basics, shall we? State your name, rank, and purpose here. And what _is_ this Akatsuki you keep going on about?"

-.-.-

Sasuke had had a theory, from the start of the battle. He tested it, too, rather quickly. Sasori might have figured this out in his own time, if confronted by the Rokubi, but as it was, Sasuke was the one who gets the credit of the second-fastest way to incapacitate a demon (the fastest being to force foreign chakra into its body).

Electricity worked wonders when types were mixed, after all.

Not five minutes into the fight, the Rokubi was lying on its side, breathing labored, and bleeding from several wounds on its body. In addition to those wounds, two of its tails had been chopped off. Suigetsu was working on taking off another, tossing the other two to Karin by using his sword as a catapult. Sasuke was off to the side, nursing the wounds he had suffered from the explosion from the two electricities mixing. He was still wary of the Rokubi--it wasn't dead yet--but knew better than to try to warn either of his teammates. They could take care of themselves, anyway.

Karin suddenly looked up sharply, craning her neck over one shoulder. Sasuke mirrored the movement without realizing it; his Sharingan was still on. He kept it on once he saw who it was. A few moments later, Suigetsu looked up cheerily from sawing off another tail.

An Akatsuki member was standing at the edge of the trees; at least, those that were still standing. Their battle had been short, but it had been fierce and cleared quite a swath of forest. It took Sasuke a few moments to place him, but when he did, he didn't feel any concern over it. It was the redheaded one, Sasori. He still looked as young as ever, and his hair was just a few shades duller and darker than Karin's. Sasuke briefly vacillated between asking and not, and eventually decided to hold his tongue. The Akatsuki member could speak first.

His brown eyes found the fading Rokubi. Sasuke, again, mirrored the movement, before irritably shutting the Sharingan off. These days it was getting harder to control, at least with the little things. He couldn't help but notice how the edges of his vision had been growing fuzzy… But that was neither here nor there. Here was an Akatsuki member, and Sasuke was in no way hurt enough that he couldn't fight, if the situation called for it.

Sasori just continued staring mutely at the Rokubi.

"Well?" Karin said finally, putting her hands on her hips and leaning forward a bit. "What do you want, Sasori-san?"

"I…" It took a moment for him to find the words he was looking for. "It was of the utmost importance that the Rokubi did not capture Uchiha Sasuke."

"It would take more than the six-tailed demon to beat us," Suigetsu said jovially, prying the tail away from the demon's body before tossing it at Sasori. It landed by his sandaled feet, blood oozing from it. Sasuke had noticed that its blood was a darker color than humans'. "Of course, now it's like, the _three_-tailed demon…" He snickered evilly.

The Rokubi's eyes rolled in its sockets, and once again Sasori was looking at it. It growled faintly.

"Don't underestimate the Bijuu," Sasori warned in a low voice.

Karin laughed shrilly. "I suppose that's advice coming from one who knows?"

"Yes, it is!" he snapped. "You three got a lucky break and managed to take this down, but--"

Then, the Rokubi suddenly rolled to its feet, blood flying from the bloody stumps of its tails. It reached around and snapped its jaws closed around Suigetsu's chest, but the white-haired man just melted into water as his sword clanged to the ground. Water splashed the ground with blood. "You stupid human, why did you have to interrupt!" it snarled at Sasori, charging. It couldn't quite run in a straight line; apparently its tails held most of its power.

Sasuke jumped to his feet, but by then, it was all over.

Sasori stood underneath the Rokubi's neck, dark red blood dripping onto his hair. Two wing-like collection of blades were splayed out from the back of his tattered cloak. One of them was imbedded deeply in the weasel's throat, sticking out on the other side. The demon hissed, and then finally collapsed once more. Sasori smoothly ducked out from under it before he was crushed.

"We did the same thing to the Shichibi, and it nearly killed us for it. It got away." Sasori shook his hands, then wiped the blood off on his uniform. He looked over towards Sasuke. "You're as reckless as ever." Then, he turned to Karin, who was helping a half-formed Suigetsu to his feet. "All of you."

"It wouldn't have lasted long in that state," she growled, glaring at the other redhead.

"True, but it was far more dangerous. How many of you would it have killed before it finally died from blood loss? The Bijuu are _not_ like shinobi. They won't just fall over when exhausted, and they don't run on chakra or adrenaline alone. They don't have human self-preservation instincts; they just have the instinct to kill."

"So you killed the Rokubi. Only eight demons left, oh great Akatsuki-nin."

"The Gobi is also dead." The calm façade was back, Sasuke noted as he sat back down. "The Shichibi is also wounded from when we fought it…"

Sasori suddenly trailed off. He looked up, into space. Sasuke could only wonder what he was thinking about. As much as Karin liked to mock him, he was still an Akatsuki member, and that was practically a rank. A rank that was still higher than theirs.

Sasori looked over to Sasuke again. "Near Iwa's southwestern border, along the mountain range, there is a large building. It was an Akatsuki base, but now it's where the Bijuu are stationed. They've captured three bodies for Jinchuuriki; _don't_ let them capture any more, understand?"

The black-haired man nodded solemnly. "The Bijuu aren't going to get the better of us. They can have the Rokubi's carcass to attest to that."

Sasori smiled tightly. It was not a happy smile. "Don't be overly reckless and act like the stupid kids I once knew you three as. The Kyuubi is still out there, along with six others." Then, he left.

Sasuke slid back down into a seated position. He had no quarrel with the rest of the Akatsuki, but he wasn't going to bound off to help them. If the Bijuu came to him, he would kill them. But he wasn't going to hunt them down. Suigetsu groaned as he finally reformed his body, shaking his head to clear it. Karin fetched one of his swords for him to use as a crutch.

"So the Rokubi…dead, eh?" he asked, leaning heavily on the broadsword. Neither Karin nor Sasuke responded to him. "…Better go get Tomozou, then. Karin, fetch."

"Ex_cuse_ me?!" Suigetsu beamed at her for a moment before he was doubled over again. She had figured out long ago that just hitting him in the head caused him to turn into a puddle. Now, she normally kneed him in the stomach or the crotch, as he usually couldn't liquefy in time to counter it.

"You still might want to retrieve your child," Sasuke said, eyeing Suigetsu with a mix of pity and complacency. After all, he _had_ brought it on himself…but he knew how hard Karin hit. "Unless you just happen to explicitly trust Sasori--"

Karin nearly tripped over herself to get out of the clearing.

Just after she made it to the trees, chakra suddenly filled the clearing. Suigetsu suddenly staggered, and Sasuke felt the world around him tip to the right. Karin collapsed against the nearest tree trunk, trembling.

Then, there was a roar.

It was loud enough to shake the ground beneath them and rattle their bones. And it was something they'd all heard before. The Kyuubi.

_The Rokubi had just been a trap! Or--a diversion_, Sasuke realized, leaping to his feet, Sharingan blazing. He realized that they were in no position to really fight the Kyuubi. He was injured--however minor--and Suigetsu and Karin were both off-kilter from stress, worry, and the last Bijuu fight. Not to mention that it was the _Kyuubi_, of all demons. If it were any other, Sasuke probably would have figured they could fight their way out, but not if it was the demon fox. Even when it had been sealed in Naruto, it had been strong enough to hand his ass to him on more than one occasion.

If what Sasori said was true (that he was being hunted for his body, something he was used to, but never to this extent), the Kyuubi wouldn't just let them flee. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place, now.

As scarlet ears poked up over the forest in the distance, Sasuke lowered his glare to the ground before him. He wouldn't be beaten, but, if he couldn't win…he wouldn't lose, at least.

-.-.-

Sasori was confident that Sasuke could handle himself. Which was why he left him there. Now he was sprinting back across the southern part of what had been Ame, long ago, towards the ex-Akatsuki base. _Now_ he was going to spring Deidara, Bijuu be damned. He had saved Sasuke and his group, even killed another demon to boot--it was time to rescue the princess and dragon (and whatever the hell Hidan was; Sasori had never figured out where any of the rest of them stood in that fairytale) once more.

It took him a little over a week at a dead sprint to reach the southern Iwa mountains. Sasori wasn't being reckless, he told himself, he was just in a hurry. Even at that dangerously fast pace, he didn't get caught unawares by any Bijuu. There weren't any returning tracks, either, though he wasn't exactly being thorough in his search.

The Suna-nin snuck easily into his old hideout, listening hard for any signs of movement. He didn't find a sleeping Shichibi--or an awake one--this time, either.

When he got to the third holding cell, he didn't find any humans, either.

-.-.-

**Arc Two: Akatsuki: Pause**

-.-.-

Next Chapter: The children 'bond'--blood, sweat, tears and all. Hinata, Deidara and Hidan tentatively make their plans for the immediate future, while Sasuke has to deal with his own problems. Meanwhile, Sasori comes up with a plan...


	13. On Becoming and Using Weapons

**Arc Three: Tomozou**

-.-.-

His name was Tomozou. He was only eleven and already as arrogant as a jounin. He had hair that was a washed-out pink, almost grey, like (very) watered-down blood. In direct contrast to that dull shade, his eyes were a _bright_ blue that practically glowed. There was less than two inches of skin showing on his body below his neck; he had a collared shirt, gloves up to his elbows, and full-length pants. Hitomi was already blushing whenever she looked at him.

Seishirou hated the guy straight away.

The night that they met him, they reluctantly and without any remarks on the matter all camped together. It was a dark night, with the moon and stars mostly obscured by wisps of clouds. They had moved much father south when they heard the Bijuu roaring, deciding that distance would be their protection. Seishirou lit a fire--showing off his awesome _Katon_ jutsu in the process--and Hitomi snuggled up against his shoulder. Tomozou sat on the other side of the fire, knees drawn up to his chest.

Hitomi fell asleep first, holding her stuffed chicken to her chest. She slept on her back, something Seishirou had never known her to do before, aside from when she was unconscious. She was probably still painfully aware of her back, then. Seishirou reached over and brushed a few stray locks of hair off her face.

This Hitomi, out there, in the wilderness, was so much different than the one from home. This one was dirty, scraggly, fierce and clingy. Back in Kiri, she had always let him have his space, and she always looked immaculate. It was like getting to know a whole other person. He knew that a shinobi's life changed a person, and that the first death was always the worst…but Ryo's death had really changed her. Seishirou could only hope that she'd eventually get over it and turn back into his little sister again.

Tomozou caught his eye as he shrugged off his backpack. It was the other boy's first movement in almost an hour. He noticed Seishirou looking at him, but pretended not to notice, and instead pulled a bottle out of his bag. The ginger-haired genin immediately made a face. _Alcohol?_ He should have known that a ruffian such as Tomozou would resort to such stupidity…

"Don't give me that look, asshole," he said, as if reading Seishirou's mind. "It's hot sauce."

"…What." That didn't deserve to be answered with a question, so Seishirou let his voice fall flat. Now that he looked, however, he did notice that it wasn't the typical alcoholic beverage bottle, but why, in all that was holy in the world, would an eleven-year-old kid carry around a bottle of _hot sauce_?

He was answered when Tomozou tipped it back and chugged a few swallows, straight from the bottle. Of course, that answer only raised many more questions.

Tomozou's eyes glittered over the glass, and as he licked his lips, he smirked. He didn't acknowledge any of the obvious questions hanging in the air between them. Seishirou scowled and laid down beside Hitomi. Tomozou could handle the fire; he was going to bed. Anything to help ignore the pink-haired kid who could beat him in a fight and drank hot sauce for the hell of it.

-.-.-

When they woke up in the morning, Tomozou was still there, much to Hitomi's delight. Seishirou was less enthused. Tomozou woke up just after them, probably roused by their yawning and stretching. He immediately rolled over and flung out a hand for his backpack, pulling it close to him before he sat up. Hitomi watched him intently, studying his movements.

It was only after a few minutes that she realized neither boy was speaking. She looked between them, and found that they were studiously ignoring each other as blatantly as they could, so she took things into her own hands.

She grabbed her own bag, which she had been using as a pillow, and, after carefully sitting down and setting her chicken in her lap, the black-haired girl dumped the contents onto the dirt below. That weird white sword had been poking into her back, but she'd been afraid to stop and rearrange it yesterday, in case she got lost again. There were a few of Ryo's belongings in there, too…

What she was looking for was right on top. It was the handful of photographs they'd took from the photo albums. She carefully shuffled through them, until she found the one with the black-haired Konoha-nin. She held it up to Tomozou and asked, "Do you know this man?"

The pink-haired boy looked surprised at the question, and then leaned in to inspect the photo. "…No, haven't ever seen him before. But he looks a lot like Sasuke-san."

That was a test, and he had just passed. The next one wasn't, however. Hitomi sifted through them again, this time proffering the picture of Sasori, Deidara, and their family. Tomozou looked at it for a moment, and then narrowed his eyes. He jerked his chin forward in Seishirou's direction.

"The little orange head is his, so you'd probably be the baby. The two dark-haired ones are your parents, and the redhead was that one you're looking for. Why are you showing me these?" It was a good deduction, but it didn't help. He had definitely seen Sasori before, at least…

Hitomi tapped the picture. "You have never seen these uniforms before?"

"No, I haven't. Are they special or something? Seem pretty stupid to me." He leaned back, folding his hands behind his head. He closed his eyes, humming something. Just a moment later, his eyes snapped back open, and he fiercely snatched the photograph from her hands. "These--are they Akatsuki uniforms?!"

"So you _have_ seen them before," Seishirou said wryly, smirking triumphantly.

Tomozou didn't bother looking up from the picture. "No, I haven't. I just put two and two together."

"You mean how we _told_ you they were Akatsuki?"

"No--that other picture, of the black-haired guy that looks like Sasuke-san. Let me see that one again." Hitomi carefully handed him the photo. Tomozou held it up between gloved fingers, then compared the two. "…Look. This guy looks like Sasuke-san. And Sasuke-san had an older brother, Itachi. Itachi was in the Akatsuki. And if he's wearing a uniform like those two, then it'd have to be Akatsuki, right?"

"Duh. Did you fail at the academy or something?" Seishirou rolled his eyes.

"…Academy?"

It was then they realized two things. The first, that Tomozou had never had any formal schooling, hence his lack of information concerning the group that brought about the downfall of the world. Second was that he was, simply, a natural-born genius. Hitomi watched him shyly as he eagerly leafed through the other photos.

He stopped at the second one bearing Sasuke's older brother, Itachi. His Akatsuki partner was in the background, leaning on a tall sword.

"This is…Samehada…"

"You know the _sword_ but not the organization?!" Seishirou burst out, finally fed up with the entire thing. He probably would have continued, too, if Tomozou hadn't looked up suddenly and grinned. It wasn't a pleasant grin; it was downright scary.

"Samehada is my father's sword. It was the closest thing I had to a toy growing up. But how did _this_ guy have it? When were these taken, huh?"

Hitomi spent the next half hour teaching Tomozou about the world at large, including its history. She got progressively redder as the time elapsed. He wouldn't stop staring at her. Seishirou grumbled and complained during the entire thing, but Hitomi was dead set on bringing Tomozou up to date.

"Ten members, huh?"

"Yes. Neither of us remember all of the names, but we know most of them, and we have a lot of their pictures."

"Uchiha Itachi, Hoshigaki Kisame, your little redhead guy, his partner, and six more."

"Itachi, Kisame, Sasori-sensei, Deidara, Hidan, Kakuzu, and…" He counted them off on his fingers, but that was all he could remember so early in the morning. "…And that's it. We know six names, and have pictures of four of those with us. We also know what Hidan looks like, and Hitomi might have seen Kakuzu at one point."

"Most of those are dead, then. Itachi because Sasuke-san killed him, and if dad has Kisame's sword, then it's safe to assume he's dead, too. As for the other four--they're probably all dead, if no one can remember their names. So four of them are alive?" Tomozou set his chin in his hands, before something else caught his eye. "What's that?" He pointed at the white sword-thing.

"…We have no idea," she said simply, picking it up by the wider end. "We found it where we found these photographs. It may be a weapon of some sort… Seishirou has mostly just been using it to hunt."

"Uh-huh." He rounded on Seishirou, eyeing him critically. "Do you know how to use a sword?"

"I doubt it's really a sword--"

"Do you?"

"No." That wasn't one of the things they taught at the academy. If someone wanted to learn swordplay, they would have to learn from their sensei, parents, or another person. They just taught the kids at the academy which end to hold if they were ever stuck using one.

Tomozou reached over and plucked it from Hitomi's grasp. As their hands brushed, she felt her face heat up. "I claim this as mine, then."

"Are you stupid?! That's _ours_!" Seishirou made a grab for it, but Tomozou pulled it out of his range and hit him on the back of the hand with the flat side. The older of the two hissed and pulled his injured hand back, glaring at his assailant. "You can't just _take_ that." (Hitomi didn't see why not.)

"Consider it payment, then." Tomozou took a few swings with it, testing its balance. It failed whatever test he put it through, because he was soon trying to chop a small piece off the end, but to no avail. He even tried jumping on it, kicking it, biting it, and bringing a kunai to it. Nothing worked.

"Payment for what?" Hitomi inquired, watching in awe as the white object withstood everything he threw at it.

"You two are looking for that Sasori guy, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, my mom is a tracker-nin. The best, like, _ever_. She'll find him for you."

Seishirou and Hitomi looked at each other. That was a good deal, all things considered. They didn't even know what the white thing _was_, and at least Tomozou could use it for himself. Plus they could track down Sasori again. Hitomi would pay anything for that chance. Even if it meant giving up Tomozou when they returned him to his mother.

"Okay."

Then, they set out north.

-.-.-

It was nearly sunset when they got to the area where Tomozou was sure they'd find his parents. It stank of blood. Seishirou saw Hitomi raise a hand to cover her nose, and he couldn't help but mimic the movement. Even Tomozou wrinkled his nose in disgust as they picked their way cautiously through the trees.

The cause of the stench was soon apparent. They came to a massive clearing of broken and burnt trees. Off towards the side, there was a large body. The ground around it was black with blood. The carcass' fur was a listless yellow color, and several limbs--tails--were scattered around the area.

The sword they had been looking at earlier, the one that was abnormally large with bandages covering it, was lying by a tree. Another sword was embedded in the trunk, along with a couple of shuriken. Various other items were scattered around the sight; there was a hairbrush there, a charred katana--not nearly as large as the other swords--stuck in the ground just a meter or two before them, several water bottles were strewn about, and broken branches were everywhere.

There were no human bodies.

Tomozou gingerly picked up the nearest water bottle, holding it upside down, watching the liquid drain out. Seishirou shuffled forward and idly prodded the katana with his toe. It fell over, raising a little mound of dirt on its tip. There was blood on the blade.

"…Sasuke-san's…" Tomozou's voice caught their attention. He was staring at the katana on the ground. Then, still holding the water bottle, he walked over to Samehada. "…Dad's." He looked up at the massive sword in the tree trunk. "Dad's." Then, he found the hair brush with cyan eyes. "Mom's."

"There are six tails. There were…supposed to be, at least." Seishirou looked up as Hitomi spoke; Tomozou did not. He continued walking through the items around the clearing. Hitomi was busy standing beside the corpse, looking minute compared to it. She walked over to the nearest of the severed tails, which was twice as long as she was tall and nearly twice as thick, too. She crawled over it, making her way around to the demon's neck, which was slashed open. "This was the cause of death. It is a clean cut, so it was probably caused by a sword."

"No, it wasn't!" Tomozou snarled suddenly. Glaring at her, he pointed to the nearest sword. "None of these fit that wound. They're either the wrong size or don't have enough blood on them."

"Blades can be cleaned," Seishirou said simply. He was proud of Hitomi for figuring such a horrible thing out on her own.

Tomozou responded by picking up the nearest one and throwing it point-first at Seishirou's head. He jerked his head to the side, close enough for the blade to nick his ear--or rather, it caught one of his piercings and pulled it out, which was actually worse. It hurt more, anyway.

"Shit! You asshole, why did you do that?!" he barked, both hands flying up to his bleeding ear. Seishirou sunk to one knee, making himself a smaller target. After all, Tomozou had a plethora of weapons readily available to him, and he'd already bested him once; it was simple ninja paranoia to go on the defensive at that point.

"That is _not_ one of our swords!" Like he'd feared, Tomozou was already at another sword, trying to pull it loose from the tree trunk. It finally slid free, and the sudden weight shift caused him to topple over. Seishirou used the opening to swipe the katana from the ground in front of him. He'd never used one before, but it was better than nothing.

"'Our'?! You were saying they were your father's!"

"I used them just as much as him--but you're missing the point, idiot! _Look_ at this clearing! If my dad left his swords just lying around like this, then he was _not_ going to have time to clean them!" Tomozou was back on his feet, trying to lift the massive sword. It was easily larger than him, and he couldn't seem to get its tip off the ground.

Finally, he collapsed against the sword, using his own weight to keep them both upright. He was hidden from view by the broad blade, aside from one gloved hand still gripping the handle.

Hitomi continued idly inspecting the wound of the Bijuu, losing interest in the scene behind her. Seishirou glanced at her; she would be an easy target if this turned into a full-blown fight. He had to get to her before Tomozou did.

"Damn it…" Tomozou was speaking again. He slid lower to the ground. Seishirou only figured this out because the sword suddenly fell away without anything to prop it up. The younger boy was still leaning against the dull edge of the blade, eyes shut tightly. "Damn it," he repeated.

"What now?"

"My parents… My dad, my mom, even Sasuke-san… They're not here."

"Obviously," Seishirou retorted. Though he wasn't exactly rushing to embrace Tomozou--his ear still stung--he knew that his stance wasn't one of aggression any longer. He could relax, at least a little bit.

"There's a dead Bijuu. Another one came and ate them all as revenge."

Hitomi looked up sharply. "No."

Tomozou lolled his head against in shoulder in order to look at her. "What?"

"Your parents and Sasuke were _captured_, not eaten. The Bijuu are looking for bodies, after all," she said matter-of-factly. After a brief, solemn pause, she added, "Our parents were captured as well."

"For…bodies? Why?"

"They want their bodies as weapons."

-.-.-

Tomozou shut his eyes tightly, holding on to the sword; it was grounding him. A demon wanted his parents' bodies…as weapons? What did that entail? _Why_? Bijuu were supposed to be all-powerful, so why would they come and kidnap a couple of humans? Even if it was his parents, but…still!

They had killed one demon. Why hadn't they killed the other? Had it exhausted them so far that they couldn't put up a proper fight?

"…Where," he ground out, pulling himself up to his feet with the zanbato's hilt. The little girl just stared at him from the Rokubi's open neck. "Where are they?! Where are my parents!"

"We think they are in Iwa…"

"Then let's go!" Tomozou said fiercely. He had to do _something_. If his parents were still alive, then he would go to the ends of the world to save them. He saw Hitomi turn deliberately to Seishirou. There was an expression on her face that he couldn't read. If he had to guess, he would have labeled it as 'about to cry'. That was how _he_ was feeling. Why should she cry about going to Iwa?! "What are you--"

"Ryo…died… The last time we tried to get there, Ryo died." Then, Hitomi did break down. It was a bit sudden; all he had done was mention going to rescue his parents!

Tomozou wasn't surprised, though. He was too busy crying as well to be surprised. He sank against the large sword again, finally relinquishing his grasp on the hilt.

He had been raised by his parents. He had never attended a ninja academy: he learned from them and Sasuke. He had never had any friends: he had swords and corpses. The closest thing he got to a ninja team was his crazy little family. He only knew of the rest of the world as village names and vague enemies. Now, he was all alone in the world. One of those vague enemies had finally caught up with them and had shattered his life. His parents--Sasuke--they were all as good as dead now. He was alone.

Tomozou wrapped his arms around the sword. The blade cut into the fabric of his glove, and even a little bit into the skin, but he didn't care. He needed comfort. This was his father's favorite sword…

"I-I miss them--!" He heard Hitomi start sobbing, and that only made Tomozou cry harder. Normally, he was the furthest thing from a crybaby, but normally he had the threat of ridicule by his father would keep him away from his emotions. Now all he had was a crying little girl and a jerk of a genin. "I miss my parents!" she wailed.

Seishirou walked over to her, kneeling down beside her. She was leaning up against and technically _in_ the Rokubi's throat, and already half-congealed blood was beginning to rub off on her. Tomozou looked up, sniffling, through the semicircle notch of the sword. Seishirou sat down, and Hitomi clung to him, practically sitting in his lap. He wrapped his arms around her thin shoulders, letting her cry against his chest. Seishirou was now ignoring the bleeding from his ear and the fact that he was leaning against the open throat of a demon carcass. He closed his eyes. The tears leaked out, anyway.

"Shh, shh, Hitomi-chan… I miss them too… But… It'll be okay, shh…" he murmured, combing his fingers through her dark hair.

Tomozou clenched his jaw and shut his eyes, hugging the sword harder.

-.-.-

_Where…where are they?_

Sasori was still in the empty ex-Akatsuki hideout. He had been for the past three hours. The cell in front of him stayed decidedly empty. They must have been moved… Because he had broken in? Because the Rokubi died? _Why_ had they been moved?!

To where…?

There were numerous Akatsuki lairs in the land. Some of them he knew right away would not be picked, be it for their size or location. Sasori knew he was taking a chance with the fact that the remaining Bijuu would stick to the hideouts of their enemies, but it was the only lead he had…

The nearest one was in Suna. The farthest was in Kiri, but he knew they wouldn't venture back there. The Nibi's unwillingness to go near the water had demonstrated that they would stick to the land. He counted three or four that would be the most likely to be picked, and decided to start with those. It would take him in a rough loop of the western half of the continent, so with some luck, he might stumble upon the Bijuu by accident…

After scouring the entire place, and finding nothing save dried blood in the cell, Sasori knew that they must have moved. They _had_ to have moved. They couldn't have started the sealing…they didn't have Sasuke, he had seen to that…

Sasori had heard rumors of a new Sunagakure that had been rebuilt. They would undoubtedly know if the was Bijuu activity in the area. The problem would be getting _in_ to Suna; the last time he had entered deeper Wind territory, he and Deidara had both been chased out. They didn't want Akatsuki near, because they knew what kind of luck the Akatsuki-nin brought with them. He'd have to sneak in…

He already knew how he was going to do that. Maybe those kids would be of use, after all. Now all he had to do was _find_ them again…

-.-.-

Hinata looked up as she received her death sentence.

Her death sentence came in the form of three shinobi tossed into their new cell. She recognized them immediately; they were the three they had _not_ wanted to see. Ever since they'd been moved, the three captives had been worried that they would soon be turned into weapons. Into Jinchuuriki.

Now that Sasuke, Suigetsu and Karin had been captured, they would definitely be turned into weapons.

She, Deidara and Hidan had decided something prior, however. They were ninja. It was against their nature to be used against their will, wasn't it? Both she and Deidara were worried about Hidan, however…

They had agreed that they would _not_ be turned into Jinchuuriki. They would kill themselves if they ever got that far. Hidan knew he couldn't be killed, but he agreed to let them mutilate his body as far as they could, in hopes that they could kill an immortal. In fact, he was downright giddy about that prospect. Hinata couldn't stand his enthusiasm about the entire ordeal.

So when the three were thrown into their cell, Hinata couldn't help but let out a dry sob. She pulled her knees to her chest, burying her face in her arms.

Sasuke was the first to stand up again. He looked over the other three, and then, all around their cell with his Sharingan. "Don't bother," Hidan said gruffly. "There's no fucking way out."

Hinata looked up again when she felt Deidara sit down beside her. He didn't look at her, and instead was staring at Suigetsu and Karin. They didn't look in too good of health…

The Hyuuga kunoichi gave a start when she realized just _how_ bad Karin was. Suigetsu had laid her out on the floor with her head in his lap, and his white hair hung around his face as he stared down at her. Karin was breathing laboriously, burns covering most of her exposed skin. Her glasses were missing, but the scratches on her face indicated that they had probably been broken. Her bright red hair was matted with blood, darkened to Sasori's shade.

"Come on, come on," Suigetsu whispered.

Karin suddenly coughed violently. Sasuke turned sharply to her, at her side in an instant. Suigetsu tightened his arms around her shoulders as she convulsed. Hinata jumped to her feet, trying to get the chakra that she knew she didn't possess.

Hidan watched them with disinterest from his corner of the cell. "Shit, man. Don't try to stop it; she's dyin'."

"Shut up!" Sasuke snarled over his shoulder, Sharingan blazing. Hinata, in that moment, realized just how much he looked like Itachi.

Hidan's words turned out to be true. In just a few minutes, Karin began to quiet down, as her breath came in shorter and shallower gasps. Her eyes fluttered open blindly, staring at the dark ceiling above. Suigetsu desperately leaned over her, holding her tightly, whispering in an undertone, begging her to stay.

Her chest finally stopped rising after it fell. Karin stared up blindly at Suigetsu's face, burned, bloody, missing her glasses and being missed already.

The next few hours were the toughest. Hinata tried desperately to keep Suigetsu from doing anything he'd regret, but _why_, she didn't know. After all, they were all going to die now--what did it matter if he got pissed or killed himself or went down fighting? At least he'd be doing _something_…

"Stay the hell away from her!" Suigetsu snapped at Hidan, who had moved to give Karin funeral rites. Hinata agreed with Suigetsu wholeheartedly on that; Karin didn't deserve such a funeral as the one Hidan would give her.

"Fuck you. If you're going to bring a dead body in here--"

"Fuck off, Akatsuki! Or I swear I'll rip your throat out--"

"Both of you, cut it out!" Deidara shouted, pushing Hidan back down while staring Suigetsu down. "Suck it up, both of you; you're not going to get your way. Now we have to discuss what's going to happen."

"What do you mean? We're going to be turned into Jinchuuriki and help the other two get their bodies," Sasuke said unhappily.

"What?"

"Two Bijuu are dead. Sasori said that you said that the Gobi had died, and we killed the Rokubi."

Hinata and Deidara looked at each other. It almost seemed too good to be true.

"Fat lot of good _that_ does us," Hidan muttered from his corner. "There are still _five_ of us. Seven demons. No one's getting out of this alive."

"We… We can't let them turn us into Jinchuuriki," Hinata whispered. She looked up at Sasuke; she didn't trust herself to look at Suigetsu. "Do you have a kunai?"

She was tossed a bloodied knife.

Deidara stared at the two men, eyes lidded. "…We have decided that we're not letting the Bijuu have our bodies. Do you understand what that means?" Sasuke nodded. Suigetsu just stared at Karin's body.

"How _touching_." A sudden voice broke into the scene. The humans looked up, scandalized, to see the Nibi leaning against the bars of their cell, smirking.

"You fucking cat, I'll kill you and that fox and every last one of you!" Suigetsu screamed, making a lunge for it. Sasuke and Deidara jumped up to restrain him. It was one thing to stop the Bijuu from taking their bodies, but quite another to throw a life away in a vain attempt to do some damage. But--was it? They were all going to die, anyway--

"It's a nice plan, but it won't work," it purred.

"Why not?" Sasuke asked, narrowing his Sharingan.

"Do you _really_ think Youko is going to let all of _you_ get away that easily? Ha, as if! Don't think we didn't think of you trying to take _that_ escape route, humans." The Nibi sat down in front of the cell, baring its teeth in a feline grin. "The immortal one _can't_ die, _my_ body is too timid to attempt suicide, the blonde one won't leave her behind, the Uchiha is too proud and the white-haired one is too pissed to think rationally. Even so, all you have is one kunai between you."

"One kunai can do _wonders_, yeah," Deidara spat.

"Not if you have a time limit." The cat's eyes glittered. "Youko says we're sealing _tonight_. Can five high-level shinobi fight against their instincts that long _and_ manage to die of blood loss? Maybe one of you--"

"You're underestimating a worshipper of Jashin-sama, bitch!"

The Nibi only looked mildly surprised at Hidan's outburst. "Oh, really. We'll see, then, hmm? Let's see who wins. Bijuu or humans. I'll even let you keep your one kunai, 'kay?" It giggled, like nails on a chalkboard.

As it walked away, still giggling, Sasuke turned to them and asked, "So what now?"

"What do you mean, what now?! Obviously, we're going to have to kill ourselves!" Deidara snapped, taking the kunai from Hinata before she could hurt herself. Ha, what a joke. Before she could hurt herself.

"The cat was lying. About the time limit, anyway."

"How can you be sure?" Suigetsu asked. Apparently the jab about him being too pissed to think rationally did the trick of snapping him out of it; Hinata remembered that Suigetsu was the type to _always_ do what people didn't want of him.

"All people--things--have their tics. The cat kept waving its tails whenever it was speaking to us, but then, its tails froze when it said they were sealing tonight," Sasuke explained impatiently. "It obviously just did that to make us sweat and get us in trouble. Unless we could get away with some clean kills, the Bijuu would manage to save us with their healing abilities."

"So what do we do, then?" Suigetsu asked. It seemed as if he and Sasuke were the ones speaking now. They were more used to each other, after all, and were probably already coming up with some plan… Undoubtedly, it would be something the other captives had tried before. This would only end miserably.

-.-.-

Next Chapter: Children bond over the weirdest things. While on their way back to Iwa, they converse about their parents and Tomozou ends up declaring he wants his teeth filed. And when they finally get to Iwa, they have a run in with a few large animal species of the north. Boys will be boys, after all...


	14. Little Hunter

If Seishirou had thought Hitomi was impractical, he was completely unprepared for Tomozou.

No, that was probably a lie. Tomozou declared himself a chuunin, and had some basic shinobi knowledge to back that up. It was probably situational that he was being such a pain in the ass.

Seishirou groaned and hit his forehead with his palm. _Great, I've gone soft. …I still hate the jackass and I'm only feeling sorry for him because of that cry fest yesterday_, he reassured himself. He would not like Tomozou, no matter how hard he cried. No. He wouldn't. The kid was stuck-up and standoffish, not to mention how casual he was with violence and swearing. He wasn't a very good influence on Hitomi.

She, however, soaked up said influence. She alternated between holding hands with Seishirou and staring at Tomozou; those were her two great pastimes lately. Hitomi suddenly needed physical contact, but she refused to get near Tomozou, so that meant it was up to Seishirou to pacify his sister. He now had to deal with two impractical newbies, then.

"Wait--Help me with this--"

Tomozou was being unrealistic because he thought he ought to take his father's sword collection with him.

Hitomi wasn't helping matters. Or actually, she _was_. She had already packed the two smaller swords (the white one they had 'paid' him with and the katana) as Tomozou was trying to drag the large zanbato behind him.

"Can we just go, please? Sometime today would be nice," Seishirou said irritably. He crossed his arms and tapped his foot, just in case they didn't get the message. "You can't even lift that one."

"Dad showed me a trick, though," he replied, frowning. "If I drink a bunch of water and kind of _concentrate_, I should be able to…"

"…'Concentrate'," Seishirou repeated in a dead tone. That was it, that was _it_. He couldn't understand half of what this pink-haired jackass was saying, and now he _knew_ he was just making stuff up. He stomped over to his sister, taking the katana and white-thing from her, throwing them at Tomozou. It was just like yesterday, except with their roles reversed. Karma was a bitch like that.

Except his aim was off, and he was used to throwing shuriken and kunai, not swords.

The two swords clattered to the ground at Tomozou's feet. He looked down at them, then back up at Seishirou, completely oblivious to the attempt on his life.

"You are _not_ lugging that thing behind you the entire way. Just leave it. You can bring the white-thing and the katana, if you want to carry them around all day, but that's it," Seishirou said fiercely, narrowing his ringed eyes.

Tomozou again looked down at the blades at his feet. "But… The katana belonged to Sasuke-san. I hadn't planned on taking it; I want my dad's swords. I'm more familiar with them."

"Bullshit. You can't even lift that one!"

"This one, maybe--"

"Just take the white-thing you wanted so badly and the katana if you are going to. We need to get going." Normally, Seishirou wasn't this hostile, not even with Sasori, but something about Tomozou just grated on his already frayed nerves. He acted more helpless than Hitomi (and that was saying something), but the ginger-haired genin _knew_ that he was probably more capable than either of them. That was probably the most infuriating part.

His words seemed to have done the trick, however. Tomozou dropped the zanbato, and stooped to pick up the two swords crossed at his feet. He held one in each hand, looking between the two. After a brief pause, he reached up and placed the white one in his mouth. Then, he grabbed the other sword and pushed it into the ground with both hands.

He left it standing upright like that, in the circle in the blade of his father's giant sword. It was a fitting memorial.

-.-.-

Tomozou was thinking. Usually, this did not bode well for anyone involved, but his two traveling companions were still oblivious to that fact. So they left him to his thoughts (something they would regret later).

_They insist they're siblings…but there isn't any resemblance_, he had noticed immediately. But he could tell that they were at least raised together; they did, really, at least _act_ like siblings. They just didn't look it. Where Seishirou was tall and already starting to get a more muscular build, Hitomi was petite, with dark hair and those unnerving, white eyes of hers. Tomozou couldn't look at them for more than a few moments before shuddering and looking away. He kept thinking he was looking at a ghost. It was creepy, and her little girl status didn't make things any better. Hadn't Sasuke once told him a scary story concerning a little girl?

He still didn't think they were real brother and sister. Maybe half, at a stretch. More likely than not, one of them was adopted sometime before either of them could remember. He would guess that it was Seishirou, just because he was older, but he would have to wait to meet their parents before he knew for sure.

Around the campfire that night, he pulled out his hot sauce again. This time, Hitomi was awake, and she couldn't help but stare as he chugged it. Tomozou glared evenly at them both, refusing to elaborate unless they specifically asked. Neither of them did.

After his tongue and mouth were burning, he gulped down several swallows from his water bottle. Like his dad, he usually carried around several with him. It was never a good thing to get dehydrated, but the danger increased when most of your body was made of water. With a frown, Tomozou shook his now nearly empty bottle. A sparse few swallows splashed pathetically around. "…I need more water," he said, standing up.

"The sun's already set. Why now?"

"Because I'm thirsty?" he guessed sarcastically. Though, after a pause, he reluctantly asked, "Do either of you need some?" He may have been a rude brat, but at least he was a _polite_ rude brat. Aside from trying to maim him, Seishirou and even Hitomi had been nice enough to him… It just wouldn't do to make enemies early on, he told himself. He wasn't lonely; he just wanted allies.

"No, we don't," Seishirou said loudly, cutting across Hitomi's faint, "Yes, please."

Astonished, she turned to her brother (_fake brother, half brother, stepbrother,_ Tomozou thought). After staring at him for several long seconds, in which Seishirou stared doggedly ahead, she then turned back to the boy sitting across from them. "No, thank you," she amended.

Tomozou stood up, stretching. He knew he shouldn't have expected any different. After all, he was just a stranger in their midst, and not a particularly friendly one at that. It was only right that Hitomi take Seishirou's side. So he just picked up his water bottle and vanished into the night, back to the last river they passed. It wasn't a long trek; it only took about five minutes at a jog.

The river was wide, slow moving, and deep. Tomozou's favorite kind.

The moon sparkled on the glass-like water, and lit up the rest of the area surprisingly well. It was nearly full, anyway. Tomozou sat down on the bank, pulling off his sandals and sticking his feet in. The water was frigid, but he didn't mind. Water always calmed him. In that, he was remarkably like his father. Granted, he couldn't exactly commune with it like his father, but he was working on that.

His mother had always told him stories about the moon. Supposedly, it got brighter with each new generation, because all of the chakra that was ever spent was sent up to the moon. "That's what gives it its pure white glow, Tomo-kun," she had said. He'd trusted her. After all, she could see chakra, right?

_Then why aren't the Bijuu white?_ he asked himself, standing up. He waded out until he was waist-deep in the water, and then sat down. Icy cold river rushed up over his head, taking his breath away. Already it was leeching the warmth from him. Tomozou sank to the bottom, crossing his legs and trying to peer through the mud that his movement had stirred up.

_What is it about the water that…_he thought, letting it calm around him. Soon, he could see through it, though it was pitch black save for a strip of light illuminated by the moon, near the surface. No doubt his father would know something about why the water didn't fully absorb the light, but his father wasn't here right now. His parents were both eaten--no, captured--by the Bijuu.

Tomozou stood up, gratefully taking in a lungful of night air as he resurfaced. Now he would be shivering and lucky not to die of pneumonia, but he knew something: he missed his parents, and he would go to the ends of the world to rescue them.

Still sopping wet and shivering by the time he made it back to the fire, Tomozou sat down and once again ignored their questioning stares. He just grabbed his bottle of hot sauce, and after taking a gulp, he said evenly, ignoring his chattering teeth, "Tell me about your parents."

-.-.-

Seishirou was taken aback by the suddenness of the question--no, demand. He didn't know what prompted it, but Tomozou's tone didn't leave any room for arguments. _What could it hurt?_ he thought.

Hitomi was already digging around in her bag for the photographs.

"They are both wonderful people and shinobi," she said simply, pulling out the last family portrait they'd taken. Tomozou gingerly took the picture between gloved fingers, holding it up so the firelight caught it.

"So they're Kiri shinobi, then?"

Seishirou and Hitomi glanced at each other. While he would have been more than content to let Hitomi take care of most of the talking, some subjects were not to be broached. The fact that they had recently found out about their parents' Akatsuki ties was among that.

"…Yes," Seishirou lied. "Dad is a jounin, and mom was recently reinstated as a tokubetsu jounin."

"And what's that?" Tomozou asked politely, handing the picture back.

The genin felt his patience snap. "Are you stupid or something?! It's the rank between chuunin and jounin!" The other boy just looked at him mildly. He was a bit paler than usual, but that only made his eyes stand out more. Seishirou knew he could glare him down; he wasn't sure what these eyes of his did _exactly_, but they were sure good for glaring and intimidation.

"I told you; I wasn't raised in a village. You're lucky I know what a jounin is," Tomozou said defiantly. This was ruined a bit by the fact that he had to avert his eyes. Seishirou leaned back, triumphant.

"Then that's _your_ fault for being ignorant."

"How so? Such ranks are trivial. I believe I've proven that." He grinned at him. "After all, you're what, a genin? And since I haven't had any ranking tests, I must be your lowest rank, but I still beat your ass."

"That was a fluke," he muttered.

"Mother and father," Hitomi said, rather loudly. This effectively broke up any arguments that might have started. Seishirou was both relieved and peeved by this diplomatic move. "They were both strong shinobi and very good parents. But… The Bijuu took them from us." That was a lie, technically. The Bijuu had only captured their mother, whereas their father…they still didn't know where he was. Hitomi drooped, setting her forehead on her knees, and Seishirou couldn't help but mirror the movement. They were as good as orphans now.

They couldn't just have another cry fest like before. There was no time. If they wanted to stand _any_ chance of getting their parents back, Seishirou knew that they had to find Sasori. He could help them track down their father, and then together they could fight the Bijuu and rescue their mother and--and his dreams stopped there. They didn't have a village to return to. He didn't have a team to return to. Without his parents, or even Sasori, Seishirou didn't have _anything_ to return to.

Hitomi suddenly leaned against him, startling him and jolting him out of his temporary depression. That's right; he still had her. Seishirou wrapped an arm around her shoulders, thinking, _And that's all I need. Ninja only need one thing to protect, and I still have one thing left for me._

"…My mother had red hair and red eyes. She was really pretty," Tomozou said suddenly. Seishirou looked up at him. The younger of the two was looking down at his lap, scowling faintly. With a small, wry grin, the ginger-haired genin realized that he was trying to get them out of such miserable thoughts. "My dad said that she had all of that red because she was so bloodthirsty."

"That's creepy," Seishirou said, sticking his tongue out.

Tomozou looked up at him, scowl gone. "Not-uh! It was one of the nicest things dad said to her that I can remember. He was a genius in the art of murder, and so--"

"A _what_?" Hitomi gasped, either amazed or appalled. It was hard to tell.

"He liked killing people." He shrugged, putting his hands in the air helplessly. "Isn't that what ninja are supposed to do? He was just…really good at his job."

"Mother said she always disproved of that part of how shinobi operate," Hitomi said simply, leaning her head against her brother's shoulder. "She never liked that we live to take lives."

"Is that why she retired in the first place?" Tomozou asked. Hitomi nodded in response. He chuckled, lacing his fingers behind his head. "…Pretty poor excuse, if you ask me."

Seishirou reigned in his temper, and instead of saying the first few things that came to mind, he ground out, "Okay, so your dad was psychotic. If your mother was so bloodthirsty she had red hair and eyes, what did _he_ look like?"

"White hair, purple eyes," he said listlessly, staring into the fire. His grin was now all but gone. He glanced at the photograph still in his possession. "…Are you part of a clan or something, then? Your parents look the same."

"Hyuuga."

Tomozou looked up sharply, the glint in his eyes returning. "That's a Konoha clan. You said they were _Kiri_ shinobi, Sei. Which is it?"

Seishirou nearly fell over. _Shit! I forgot how clever this jerk was_, he reprimanded himself. Hastily scrambling for an answer, all he could come up with was the vague truth, "We moved after the Bijuu attack."

He grinned savagely. "The Bijuu attack _wiped out_ Konohagakure. I've _been_ there; it's nothing but a crater. How could you move after that--?"

"We weren't living in the village at the time!" Seishirou said hotly. He glared at Tomozou from across the fire, and for a little while, he just glared back. Then, he relented, and looked down at the photograph again.

"…How come you never got your teeth sharpened, huh?" he asked sullenly, handing the photo back to Hitomi. She gratefully accepted it.

Seishirou narrowed his eyes, frowning. "Why do you know about _that_ but you're an idiot in everything else about the villages?"

"Because my dad was a Kiri-nin," Tomozou retorted with a roll of his eyes. Shaking his head, he continued, "He had sharpened teeth and…_used_ water jutsus. I just thought that most Kiri-nin would have, you know, sharp teeth." To make his point, he bared his teeth at the both of them.

Hitomi experimentally stuck a finger in her mouth, running it along her teeth. Then, she looked towards Seishirou, and remarked, "Yes, Seishirou… I am slightly curious about this as well. None of your team had their teeth sharpened, nor did your sensei…"

Flushing with the double attack, he huffed and crossed his arms. "_I_ never wanted sharpened teeth. Miki-chan said it was unbecoming of a kunoichi, and Ryo had to wait until he was a chuunin without parents to sign his permission slip. And sensei… I don't know; I never bothered to ask him. I guess he didn't want to."

"So there were rules for this?" Tomozou asked. He was suddenly all smiles, which only served to make Seishirou suspicious.

"…Yeah."

"…And the rules were…?"

"Had to be a chuunin without permission from your parents. Had to be a genin with permission. There were a few dental requirements, too, I think," he said warily.

Tomozou sat back, sighing heavily. "Hm," he grunted, biting his lip. Seishirou didn't reply; he was waiting for a better response than that, but Tomozou was not saying anything else, and Hitomi was too busy staring at him to jumpstart the conversation, so that meant it was up to Seishirou--_again_--to save the night from awkward silences.

"Why?"

"I've always wanted sharp teeth." Tomozou beamed at him. "Is there any way to do it without a doctor or whatever--"

"_No_. First off, they use actual _files_ to sharpen them, and that's _not_ something you want. Second, I am _not_ going to sit around and watch." _Though hearing him scream would be amusing_, he added in his mind.

As Tomozou just grinned in reply, even Seishirou had to admit he had the perfect smile for sharp teeth.

-.-.-

Trauma is one kind of bonding that they shared. All three of them were orphaned, if temporarily, and completely friendless, save for each other. That wasn't the only thing that kept them stuck together; the crying and sharing of families helped cement their budding friendship.

Well, it was more of a tolerance than friendship, but that was just how kids were.

Hitomi, though she rarely interacted with Tomozou directly, was the one that kept them together when the boys fought. She was more clingy than ever, but she usually stayed with Seishirou. It got slightly awkward when she had to bathe--because of _course_ she insisted on doing that whenever she had the chance. After a few too many returns with a crimson face, Tomozou and Seishirou silently agreed to stop telling her about nearby rivers, unless they absolutely had to. Tomozou never had to deal with Hitomi in that way, so it was a show of good faith on his part. Seishirou readily thanked him for it.

They wandered aimlessly, unsure of what to do next. All three of them knew that they wanted to find their parents, but they had no idea how to go about that. Neither Seishirou nor Hitomi had actually seen the Akatsuki base; they just knew it was in Iwa. Without a proper map--Ryo had been the one carrying it at the time of the attack--they could do little more than head in the general direction of 'west'.

Seishirou wasn't the only one who was hoping they'd come across a friendly adult who could help them on their way.

Of course, if it was Sasori, he knew he had a few choice things to say to him, especially concerning Hitomi. Short of their father, the redhead was their best bet at some sort of willing guide.

"…We have strayed too far south."

"No duh," Tomozou replied, staring at the expanse of sand before them. Seishirou shielded his eyes against the sun's glare, scanning the horizon. In front of them, there was nothing but sand. No mountains, buildings, anything, not even the glass from the Bijuu attack. "What direction do we head now, then?"

"North," Seishirou said, turning on his heel. "Let's go."

As the days passed, they got more used to each other, but with that came its own dangers. Tomozou would _not_ tell them what was up with the hot sauce, no matter how they pestered him. Hitomi would still stop and fix her hair or clothes for ten straight minutes if something was amiss. Seishirou was getting fed up with the both of them.

When they got into rockier territory, the kids were both thankful and terrified. After all, this was where they had been ambushed. Ryo had died and they'd gotten separated from their father as a result. Tomozou was the only one who seemed completely at ease.

At least until sunset.

There was a high-pitched scream that made all of them start. Hitomi even had to stifle her own shriek. The cry faded off into a low, pathetic bleat, echoing off of the rocks around them. They were in a different part of Iwa land than they had been in before; the canyon was conspicuously missing and the mountains were steeper, higher. It only made the echoes worse.

"Wh-What was that?" Tomozou asked, looking around him with wide eyes.

"I don't know. It could have been an animal," Seishirou replied. His voice was firm, but on the inside, he was as terrified as the other two. That hadn't sounded like any animal he'd heard before.

"Th-The sound of the Bijuu is supposed to be a truly terrible sound," Hitomi commented. She had nearly jumped in her brother's arms when the scream first started, and now she was still clinging to his arm, practically hiding behind him.

"Hitomi-chan, we've _heard_ a Bijuu… Several of them. They _don't_ sound like that," he said reassuringly. She didn't seem to believe him, and instead kept looking around her fearfully.

In the twilight, they still continued northward. They could still spot the occasional rabbit or bird, thankfully, so the Bijuu weren't in the area. When it got too dark out to see, they stopped along a flat part of the path. Hitomi was sent out--with Seishirou, as she refused to go alone--to find firewood, while Tomozou was sent on a hunting mission.

"Can't we… Can't we go, uh, together?" He hadn't liked being chosen to be the one on his own. The pink-haired boy shuffled from foot to foot, looking around him like a frightened animal.

"Please do," Hitomi said before Seishirou could stop her. At least it meant they had the strongest of their team with them…

The three children found a few dried-out branches of a long-dead shrub, and spent the next few minutes trying to pry them apart and into little pieces for a fire. This was a good thing, as it allowed them to focus on the manual labor aspect, and try to forget about that scream.

"Hitomi-chan, carry these back to the site for us?" Seishirou asked. He needed to talk to Tomozou, alone, to try to figure out what that cry _had_ been, if it wasn't a demon. He did _not_ need his little sister there, listening to their ideas, to only get more and more frightened.

The little girl shook her head, clutching one of the sticks like a club. "No, I am staying with you," she stammered.

"We'll be _right_ behind you, I promise." It was only a tiny lie, and it wouldn't hurt anyone. Plus, it wasn't as if their campsite was far away; it was less than a hundred meters from where they were prying the dead shrub away from the stone.

Hitomi sniffled, but she picked up a few of the pieces of wood, and walked robotically away. Seishirou grimaced; his conscience would make sure he'd pay for that later. Moreso because he was making a small girl with a hurt back carry firewood, rather than because he was making her fend for herself for five minutes.

"No, I don't know what that thing was," Tomozou said immediately, heading off the question before it was asked. He looked sidelong at Seishirou, narrowing his eyes. "I've never heard an animal or human make that sound before. I'm not saying I've met every human or heard every animal, but…" He trailed off, looking away.

"Look, between us, we probably have a decent grasp on the animal kingdom. Agreed?"

"…Yeah, I guess."

"And we both agreed that _that_ was no animal, right?"

"I didn't say that," Tomozou said guiltily, shrugging. "It could have been. Animals make some pretty nasty noises when they're being killed. Like, have you ever heard a horse--?"

"No, I haven't, but that's beside the point!" Seishirou exclaimed with a roll of his ringed eyes. "I don't _think_ it was a Bijuu… But just in case, should we move camp?"

"Why? If it was, they would just track us anywhere. They seem pretty all-powerful, and we haven't _exactly_ been stealthy. I'm sure it would know we're here, at any rate."

Huffing, Seishirou asked, "Fine, then. What do _you_ think it was, oh great and knowledgeable Tomozou-sama?"

"Probably some sort of animals that's native to only this region that neither of us have seen before. It probably got eaten or something. Disemboweled, eviscerated, gutted, mutilated--"

Seishirou felt faintly ill just listening to the list. He had to try hard not to picture any of it. Too much of it reminded him of Ryo. "Okay, okay, I get the picture… But… What if it was a Bijuu, then, doing the killing…?"

"Again, then there's nothing we can do. At least it's eaten, if it was, right?" With that cheerful ending note, Tomozou grabbed an armful of wood and marched off towards camp, dismissing Seishirou and the rest of the conversation.

…_I hate that kid_, Seishirou couldn't help but think as he watched him depart.

Then, the scream came again, this time much closer. _Much_ closer. In the direction that Tomozou and Hitomi had left in.

-.-.-

Sometimes, shinobi reflexes got in the way of actually _being_ a shinobi. This was fairly common in higher ranked ninja, but for Tomozou, it was a new experience. His mind was rebelling against his body, but his body won out; it just meant that he had no idea what he was doing.

Actually, it wasn't just his mind and body at war. There were also basic self-preservation instincts, but ninja usually had that destroyed at an early age, and he was no exception. His body actually went _against_ those instincts, in the most potentially destructive way possible: he ran _towards_ the scream that every other sane creature would be running _away_ from.

His mind was screaming _no, no, go back, think out a plan, you dolt!_ at the top of its lungs, and frankly, Tomozou would have preferred to listen to himself in this case. When he saw movement and the smell of blood first registered, he was intervening, no ifs, ands, or buts.

In fact, he had no idea what was going on until things stopped moving. He was aware that _he_ had moved, and had gotten hit for his troubles. Tomozou had spotted Hitomi and something coming towards her, and now he was somehow between them. Funny how those lightning-fast reflexes worked sometimes, huh?

His face was now buried in fur. Teeth or claws or something equally sharp were digging into his shoulder. A large arm or paw or something equally large was resting on his other shoulder. His own arm had sometime grabbed that white sword, and judging from the hot liquid he could feel through his gloves, he figured that he had already stabbed the beast.

The animal growled deep in its throat, detaching itself from Tomozou. He staggered back as the teeth slid out of his shoulder and the weight vanished. Shaking his head to clear his vision, he was amazed to find two things.

Firstly, he was surprised to find that his assailant was a cat.

Secondly, he was amazed that it was such a _large_ cat. He barely came up to its shoulder, and he was rather tall for his age. The feline backed away from him, blood dripping out of its chest, baring sharp teeth. It hissed at him, and then leapt onto the nearest rock. For a brief moment, Tomozou was worried it'd attack from above, but instead, the animal just retreated.

A shaggy beast was lying across the path; it had been shielded from his view by the cat. The animal was lying on its back, sides heaving, legs kicking feebly. It opened its mouth and bleated--a quieter version of the scream they'd heard before. Tomozou shook his head again, dropping the sword. So it _had_ been an animal… Some sort of goat, by the look of it.

The poor beast was bloody and already torn open, on the verge of death. From the way it was kicking its hind legs, its back had probably been broken. One of its large horns was stuck in the rocks, keeping its head at an awkward, raised angle; it was lucky that its neck hadn't snapped as well. No, not lucky, he amended as an afterthought, _it'd be out of its misery if its neck was broken_.

Tomozou turned around, looking for Hitomi. She wasn't there.

"Hi--" He turned around again, looking around wildly. He was immensely relieved to find her padding over towards the fallen animal, apparently unharmed. "Damn… Hitomi-san, what just happened?"

"This poor goat was attacked by that mountain lion," she answered without turning around. She knelt by the animal's side, digging a kunai out of her backpack. After a few moments in vain, she turned around, and asked, "Tomozou… Do you have a kunai I could borrow?"

Tomozou was shocked to see blood on her face. "Are you hurt?" Oh boy, Seishirou would kill him if she did…

She looked down at her hands, also having a few splatters of blood. "…This is _your_ blood," she said softly. The animal beside her bleated, as if in agreement.

Reminded of its injuries, Tomozou's body promptly spoke out against him. He clamped a hand over his shoulder, gritting his teeth to prevent any sort of sound escaping him. Tomozou was about to reply--laugh it off or something equally nonsensical--when he sensed something behind him. He turned, just in time to duck under a foot. Seishirou was connected to that foot, and landed just in front of Tomozou.

"Wh-What the hell?!" Tomozou demanded hotly.

"May I have the kunai now?" Hitomi asked plaintively, but she was quickly drown out as the boys got into yet another argument.

"What do you mean?! You ducked, didn't you?" Seishirou barely paused to glance back at Tomozou. Tomozou, on the other hand, would have none of that; if he was getting into an argument, he was going to make sure he wasn't ignored.

"You were _aiming for my head_! What if I hadn't ducked, huh?" In possible revenge, he threw a punch at Seishirou, expecting him to dodge or duck. Unfortunately (for Seishirou), he had glanced at Hitomi at the wrong moment. Tomozou's fist connected with his jaw, and he flew into the rock just above the injured goat and his sister.

"What the hell was that for?!"

"You were trying to kick me!"

"But I _didn't_!"

"If you had faster reflexes like me, then you could have ducked too!" Tomozou snapped snottily, crossing his arms. He immediately uncrossed them, however, since his shoulder didn't like the movement very much.

"Seishirou, may I borrow a kunai?" Hitomi asked, once again trying to accomplish her own goal in the midst of the argument.

Both of them ignored her. Seishirou, using the rock behind him as a springboard, launched himself at Tomozou. Tomozou backpedaled and ducked again, though Seishirou managed to grab the back collar of his shirt and used his forward momentum to nearly choke him. The two grappled for several moments, before Tomozou got the upper hand, and managed to kick Seishirou away from him.

Eventually, Hitomi gave up on trying to break them up. She just stood up calmly, after patting the goat on the neck, and walked over to retrieve Tomozou's dropped sword. She then walked back to the goat, and after a murmured apology, put the poor beast out of its misery.

The moon was high in the sky when both Seishirou and Tomozou collapsed, tired from trying to beat each other senseless. "Let's get back to camp," Seishirou said, almost by way of apology. Tomozou could only nod. Both boys looked over towards Hitomi, instantly alarmed when they saw she was covered in blood. "Hitomi-chan--"

She turned to him, her white eyes standing out against the blood on her face. She was still holding the white-thing, though it was more of a red-thing at that point. "Hm?"

"Y-You… Why are you looking bloodier than the beast?" Seishirou asked, grinning uncertainly.

"I… I am hungry. I only learned the basics of butchering animals, but there is plenty of meat here, and the backstrap has not received too much damage, not too many bone fragments--" Hitomi looked up abruptly when Tomozou started laughing. She seemed a little indignant.

"You are the weirdest little girl I have ever met." She turned crimson beneath the blood. He then turned to Seishirou, still chuckling. "And you are the weirdest older brother I've ever met, too. Can we go back to camp now? If you're going to eat that, it needs to be cooked, and I'd like to get to sleep sometime tonight."

"Yeah…" Seishirou agreed wearily. He was now officially past the point of worrying about Hitomi; the fact that she was calmly butchering a goat she had just killed while her two teammates (if they could be called that) were fighting said enough for a single night. He ran a hand through his long hair, sighing. "…We better smoke some of the meat, too. I doubt we'll be lucky enough to come across a dead goat every night from here on out, and I'm running low on ration bars. Not to mention the fact that I'm tired of hearing rabbits scream when I have to kill them…"

"Eww," Tomozou said, sticking out his tongue.

"What?! Rabbits scream, okay?" Seishirou was instantly bristling again, so Tomozou shook his head a bit more forcefully than what he would have usually.

"No, rabbits. They taste nasty," he said in a conciliatory tone.

"What does goat taste like?" Hitomi asked curiously.

"It's kind of tough, but it's better than rabbit. A _lot_ of things are better than rabbit. …Then again, I haven't ever tried mountain goat."

"Tonight is a first for all of us, then," she said, almost happily, as she stood up with her arms full of raw meat. The mere sight had Tomozou laughing all over again.

-.-.-

Seishirou was shook awake sometime during the early morning. All he saw was grey sky and Tomozou putting a finger to his lips. "Shh," he said as soon as he was sure the ginger-haired genin was awake.

He sat up, rubbing at his eyes. He had gotten two hours of sleep, tops. Yet here was Tomozou, already bright eyed and bushy tailed… Seishirou yawned, stretching. Tomozou clamped a hand over Seishirou's mouth, glaring at him. "I said shh!" he hissed. Then, lowering his voice (if such a thing was possible), he added, "Wake Hitomi."

"…What's going on?" He finally caught on to the urgency in Tomozou's tone.

"All of the animals in the area are gone. It's too quiet out, even for predawn." Seishirou crawled over to his sister, shaking her awake. She blinked sleepily a few times, and then he noticed that she wiggled her fingers and toes. So she was still doing that? He shook his head; there were more important matters to attend to right then, like a possible Bijuu attack. This time, they wouldn't have any handy adults to save them, so their only chance was to get away.

"How long have you been awake?"

"Only a few minutes," Tomozou whispered, rummaging through their pile of belongings for his white-thing. He crouched down, and then slowly crept over to one of the rocks that made up a sort of wall around the path. He cautiously peeked over it, and then immediately ducked his head back down with a groan. "Nevermind, false alarm. Just some stupid kid."

"A kid? Who's stupid enough to be in Iwa these days?" Seishirou asked. He was answered when Tomozou gave him a very pointed look. "Well… Maybe we can rob him or something for food. I'm not impressed with goat, I must say." He crawled over to the rock as well, before peering over it. Sure enough, there was a figure coming down the path. It was probably male, but it was also probably young. He was taking a pretty leisurely pace, too, considering the area and time… "…I'm going back to sleep. Hitomi-chan, you go back to sleep, too. Our alarm clock here," he pointed at Tomozou, "Can wake us if anything else happens."

"Hey, something else happened," Tomozou replied dully, leaning on the top of the rock. "The kid is gone."

By now, both Seishirou and Hitomi were leaning out over the rock as well, searching for any clue as to the whereabouts of the stranger. It wasn't good to be losing unknown people in an unknown terrain, after all. They were just a bunch of kids--tired, injured kids at that. Any jounin could quickly dispatch them, so they had to be careful.

"A kid, you say…?" Hitomi asked, politely covering her mouth as she yawned. "As in, my age? Or yours?"

"Probably ours," Tomozou replied.

"I see." What she saw, neither boy knew. Then, she pushed herself away from the rock, tottered sleepily for a moment, and strolled down the path towards where the stranger had disappeared. Seishirou gave a start, immediately rushing after her.

"Hitomi--?!"

"Sasori, please come out now!" Her shout cut him off. She cupped her hands around her mouth to amplify her voice, and it echoed around them off of the stone for several moments before fading away.

Seishirou pounced upon her and started dragging her back towards their camp. "Hitomi-chan, _what_ makes you think that _that_ was Sasori?"

"Who else would look like 'a kid' and be in this area?" she asked, squirming in his grasp. When it was clear that he wasn't letting go, she just cupped her hands around her mouth again and resumed her yelling. "Sasori! I promise I will not be angry with you for leaving me! I forgive you, if you just come back to us now! Please, Sasori!"

"He's not here," Seishirou replied grumpily. "He _left_, Hitomi-chan. Now let's hurry and pack up our things before whoever it is catches up with us."

Hitomi ignored him, continuing her pleas with the rocks around her. The stranger still hadn't reappeared. "Sasori, please, please come back! We need your help! We are not mad, I promise, and we all forgive you!"

"Speak for yourself," Tomozou replied, just as they got within earshot of him once more.

"What makes you think I want to be forgiven?" Tomozou jumped violently as a figure suddenly landed lightly on the rock he had been leaning against. Seishirou didn't jump, but he had definitely been surprised. Hitomi seemed to be the only one unfazed by this appearance, and twisted in her brother's grasp to view the newcomer, fingers interlaced in front of her.

"I knew you would come back!" she said, beaming.

It was definitely Sasori who was standing on the rock before them. He looked exactly the same, of course, though maybe his eyes were a bit colder or more distant. It was hard to tell, as glassy as they were. The redhead crossed his arms in front of his chest, looking down his nose at the two. "What would give you such a stupid hope?"

"Because a ninja knows better than to give up any tool, no matter how crude it may be," she replied with a wide smile. She finally got out of Seishirou's grasp and pranced over to the rock Sasori was standing on, hugging his foot. It was the only part of him she could reach without climbing up onto the rock as well.

"Vain hope," Sasori hummed, rolling his eyes. "Let go of me. I only came back for you kids because I have need of you."

"We're not going to be used as bait!" Seishirou cut in, trying to pull Hitomi away from Sasori's foot. She would not be moved, however. She was surprisingly obstinate when it came to the puppeteer.

"Did I mention bait? No, I believe I didn't. I actually just require a cover. Oh, you got another one. Just perfect." Sasori seemed to notice Tomozou for the first time.

"'Another one'? I have a name!" he snapped, getting back a bit of his bravado. He had been caught off guard by Sasori's sudden arrival, but now he was back to normal.

"He is Tomozou. This is Sasori," Hitomi introduced them calmly, rubbing her cheek against Sasori's ankle. "He is our hero. He is very kind, even if he pretends not to be, and he is an Akatsuki member."

"Yeah, I'd recognize the stupid outfit anywhere," Tomozou muttered.

"I suppose you _would_ know about stupid outfits, wouldn't you," Sasori replied dryly, though not without a small smirk. Tomozou responded by driving his sword through Sasori's foot, just barely missing Hitomi. The redhead looked down at it in disinterest. "…Where did you get that?" He seemed to be more interested in the white-thing than the fact that his foot was pinned to the rock, but Seishirou knew why.

"We paid him with it," Hitomi replied helpfully. Seishirou wished she'd stop answering so eagerly as he put his palm against his head. "His mother did not get to pay us back, so I suppose he is in our debt for it now."

Sasori reached down and pulled it out of his foot, much to Tomozou's annoyance. "I am _not_ in debt, and what's with the Akatsuki-nin? Don't they bleed?"

"No, we don't," Sasori answered, inspecting the white-thing. "…This was the one that belonged to your mother, wasn't it?" Without waiting for a reply, he tossed it back to Tomozou, who caught it easily. "Don't let Deidara see it."

"Who the hell is Deidara?!"

"That is precisely who we're going to be finding. He's my partner in the Akatsuki." Sasori finally shook his leg loose from Hitomi's grasp, and jumped down. He started walking back southward, from where he had came. "…Well? Come on, then."

"Why? We just got _in_ Iwa territory," Seishirou replied, glaring at the redhead as he passed him.

"The Bijuu aren't in Iwa anymore. They might be in Suna now, or a variety of other places. Our best bet is to infiltrate Sunagakure and try to get some information." Hitomi was already happily packing up her things to follow Sasori. She was practically _glowing_. Seishirou grimaced, turning instead to continue glaring daggers in Sasori's general direction.

"What if we don't _want_ to go to Sunagakure?" he asked, though he knew he'd end up following him anyway.

"Then I suppose you don't want your parents back very badly, do you?" Sasori wasn't fazed by his minor rebellion. "It's up to you, I suppose. I can always use a puppet as a substitute."

"Four kids. You planning to masquerade as a ninja team? How is _that_ going to get past any security guards?" Tomozou asked, taking a more practical approach. Seishirou was chagrined to find that he, too, was packing up in preparation for leaving.

"I am not a kid," Sasori sniffed, "And furthermore, I _know_ Suna. I just need a cover in case things get ugly."

"So you _are_ using us as bait," Seishirou muttered darkly, stomping off to retrieve his things before they left without him.

"If you want to be so cynical, then you can choose to look at it that way. Do you _really_ think I could ever face your mother if I let you get killed?" There was something odd about the way Sasori said the word 'mother' that set Seishirou off kilter.

"You simply could not. It would be a very bad scene if she were to learn that you let Seishirou get killed," Hitomi said seriously, skipping to catch up to Sasori. _Skipping_. She tried to hold hands with him, too, but he irritably refused, and she settled on looping her arm with his in a way that he couldn't easily brush off. She was getting good at finding such poses.

"So what's after Suna, hmm? What's the plan when we get down there?" Even Tomozou seemed to be acting friendly, even if it was selfishly for information. Seishirou stood there a moment, watching as the other three walked away from him. He doubted he had ever felt more lonely.

"Sneak into the village, track down their leader, and bully him into giving us information. Then, head to wherever the Bijuu may be hiding, and rescue their captive humans before they're turned into Jinchuuriki." Sasori paused, and since he stopped, the other two did as well. He turned back to Seishirou. "Coming?" he asked unassumingly.

Seishirou grinned in spite of himself, and ran to catch up with them. "What if the Suna guy doesn't know anything about the Bijuu?" he asked, hoping that the Suna leader would know something. The faster they got this over with, the faster they would all return to their parents and be rid of the red-haired menace. Then, life could return to normal, right? Probably not. They were still all homeless, and they had lost too many already. He himself had lost his genin team in just a few weeks.

"We move on to the next village, and repeat until we find a suitable lead. Eventually, the Bijuu _will_ be found…" Sasori started out forcefully, but his voice drifted off after the second sentence. He looked thoughtful. "It's somewhat ironic that it's taken the Bijuu for all of us to get together again."

"'All of us'?" both Seishirou and Tomozou asked in unison.

"The rest of the Akatsuki… Hinata-hime and Neji… Even Sasuke's been roped into this now," Sasori mused.

"You know Sasuke-san?!" Tomozou exclaimed, clearly shocked.

"Unfortunately, I do. He's still a brat, him and that team of his. I think I preferred Itachi." He frowned, glancing at the pink-haired boy. "What's _your_ connection to Uchiha Sasuke?"

"He's kind of like a teacher, kind of like a grumpy older brother. Or uncle. He's my father and mother's teammate."

Sasori stared at Tomozou for a long while, until a look of dawning realization came over his face. "Your parents… _Karin_ is your mother?!"

"Yes, she is," he replied defensively.

"And the white-haired one is your father? What was his name… Suigetsu?" he asked, continuing with his awed tone.

"Yes, he is." Now Tomozou was slightly more confused than defensive. This was compounded when Sasori reached over and gave him a solid knock on the head. "Hey!"

"It's a miracle you're able to move, much less walk around." Sasori chuckled at some unknown joke. "I wonder what he would say now…"

"He?" It seemed as if all three of the children had been unable to ask that obvious question.

"Hmm, an old friend of mine." The way he said 'friend' implied quite the opposite. "He's the one responsible for Sasuke, Karin and Suigetsu meeting, more likely than not. In fact, he's the one responsible for most…no, all of us meeting. If Deidara hadn't killed him and dragged him back through Konoha territory, he wouldn't have met Hinata-hime. I still would have met Deidara, but I doubt things would have worked out between us like they had. I doubt Kabuto would have been involved, and Suigetsu would still be some normal Kiri-nin, Karin would be normal as well, and Sasuke would have had his problems to work out with Itachi without the snake's power…" Sasori seemed to eagerly go off on that tangent, whereas the children could barely comprehend what he was talking about. The puppeteer continued talking to himself under his breath, counting off several things on his hands, chuckling occasionally.

"What is he talking about?" Tomozou whispered, turning around to see Seishirou better. Seishirou could only shrug. _He_ sure as hell didn't understand the mind of an Akatsuki-nin.

"Remind me to swing by Otogakure when things cool down," Sasori announced suddenly, to no one in particular. Only Hitomi nodded in response to his random remark.

"Until then… On to Suna?" Tomozou prompted. Sasori nodded vaguely, mind obviously still elsewhere. "On to Suna," he repeated, frowning to himself.

"On to Suna," Hitomi echoed, leaning against Sasori's arm.

"On to the Bijuu," Seishirou replied primly, closing his grey eyes.

-.-.-

Next Chapter: Meanwhile, Neji, Kakuzu, whatever you want to call it--it's another 'A -- Chapter'! I wonder what's been happening in their neck of the woods while these four have been plotting to sneak into Suna...


	15. A Neji Chapter

Neji had tried to get back to his children, he really had. Fate had intervened, however, and rather cruelly at that. When he had tried to loop around part of the canyon to avoid the Shichibi, it had only led him into the demon again. That had forced him farther off track. Okay, he'd admit it; he had been lost for a day or two as well.

So now he had lost Hitomi and Seishirou, not to mention his only ally in finding the Bijuu.

Neji had hesitantly left Iwa territory, hoping he hadn't missed them by accident. But there was no way he could have, not with his Byakugan and nearly frantic searching.

He made his way south, because it was the only direction he could go. Sasori was a Suna-nin, and there were rumors about a rebuilt Sunagakure deep in Wind territory, so it was possible he'd head there next (hopefully with the children in tow).

Disaster after disaster seemed to happen, however. He had nearly run into the Rokubi. It had been heading out east for some reason, but Neji wasn't going to attack it just to find out. There were also rock slides, large wildlife, and treacherous Iwa territory to deal with. Fate seemed hell bent on delaying him. It took entirely too long to reach the edge of the desert. Even there, Neji was stuck. He was not used to desert travel, and he wasn't stupid enough to attempt it without some better supplies or a Suna guide. He trekked up and down the Suna border, hoping to find Sasori.

What he found was much different.

Neji had been starting a fire for the night, at least to cook for a bit with, when he caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye. He immediately activated his Byakugan, jumping to his feet. He saw something just a little ways away, but it had been moving too fast for him to really see who or what it was. It was at least human, then, a shinobi.

He slowly crept over to the rocky outcropping where he'd last glimpsed it. It wasn't invisible; it was just fast. Neji wasn't exactly slow himself, so he was fairly confident. Plus, with his Byakugan, he wouldn't be caught unawares, unless the thing used its speed against him. That would be impossible, however; it would have to _know_ it was faster than his Byakugan to charge blindly at him, or be totally sure of its own power--

Neji barely ducked as he suddenly registered the person again. He bent at the waist, just as a large fist swung over where his neck had just been. He kicked up to retaliate, but his assailant just grabbed his ankle and hoisted him into the air.

"Hyuuga?"

Neji twisted in the air to get a better view. He was immensely surprised to find that it was _Kakuzu_, of all people. Though it would explain the speed issue, as well as the chakra anomalies he was finally seeing, now that Kakuzu wasn't moving so quickly.

After the two had set each other straight that they _weren't_ out for each other's blood, they began the ever-stressful process of exchanging information. Neji wasn't entirely pleased at this, but he wasn't displeased, either. He barely knew Kakuzu, and didn't know how to react to his presence, that was all.

"So what are you doing out here?" Kakuzu asked, tapping his finger on his knee.

"Waiting for Sasori."

"He's out in this country, then?"

"He's supposed to be. We lost track of each other after the Shichibi attacked."

"Shichibi, huh?"

"Isn't that just what I said?" Neji asked with a frown. He had always thought that Kakuzu was the more mild-mannered of he and Hidan, but he supposed that compared to Hidan, _anyone_ would appear mild-mannered. "What about you?"

"I haven't run into any _real_ demons…" He sighed, rolling his eyes. "But that damned kunoichi that's running the eastern coast got to me. I think Hidan would've told you, or at least he should've, that fucker. We got separated when she attacked and I haven't seen him since."

"Must be some kunoichi, to separate two Akatsuki members from each other unwillingly," Neji noted, though he couldn't keep all of the amusement out of his voice.

"She's not particularly special. I wouldn't put her on Konan's level or anything. She just has a few fancy tricks. Listen, Hyuuga, if you ever come across a bitch with purple hair and red markings on her face, back east, plug your ears and _run_. Got it?"

"I'm not Hidan. You don't have to act so patronizing. Is she really so dangerous?"

"Not dangerous. She has some sort of controlling jutsu. Even _I_ couldn't get out of it until Sasori snapped me out of it with a bomb to the face, and that probably was several weeks after she had first caught me in it. A little wimp like you wouldn't stand a chance."

Neji didn't like being called a wimp--and really, he was far from one--but he didn't feel like starting an argument. Obviously, Kakuzu was intentionally trying to piss him off, but Neji was not immortal like Hidan was. He wouldn't make himself a target for any attacks if he could help it. So instead of lashing out, he calmly responded with, "I'll keep that in mind." After a moment or two, to change the subject, he added, "Why are _you_ out this way?"

"Looking for Hidan, Sasori, anyone. I know little of what's going on these days, and I'd like to change that," Kakuzu answered airily. "Do _you_ know what's going on?" Ah, the inevitable question.

"To some degree. At least, after Kiri was attacked--"

"Wait, _what_? Who would dare attack Kirigakure?"

"The Bijuu, that's who. The Nibi and Sanbi," Neji said, narrowing his eyes at the mere memory. "A lot of lives were lost that night. I don't know the end result of the village; I left after the demons left."

"Why would a little thing like you want to pursue _two_ demons? Didn't the Ame-Bijuu war teach you?" Kakuzu asked, raising an eyebrow. Neji shook his head stubbornly.

"I wasn't pursuing the demons for the demons. They took my wife--Hinata--as well as Deidara and Hidan."

"_What?!_" Kakuzu really _was_ out of the loop, judging on his reaction. He leapt to his feet, looking livid, glaring at Neji with those odd eyes of his. If looks could kill, there was no doubt that Neji would have been dead at that point.

_What ever happened to not shooting the messenger?_ he thought wryly, returning Kakuzu's glare with a milder one. "Yes. So you can see that the situation is very dire. It's why Sasori and I have been pursuing the Bijuu for this time, and why I'm looking to meet back up with him."

Kakuzu reluctantly sat back down, grumbling to himself. After several moments of this, he finally looked back up at the Hyuuga with a hooded expression. "…Have they sealed yet?"

Neji looked away. "I hope not."

"None of that shit. Hyuuga, _have they sealed yet_?"

"Sasori didn't think so, and neither do I. It seems as if the demons are waiting for all of the bodies, so they can do one mass sealing." The brunette lightly closed his eyes, sighing. "There are eight demons left, and they have three bodies."

"Me," Kakuzu grunted, "The Uchiha brat and his two, and you, if they ever find out about you. With the Hyuuga girl in their possession, however, and the Shichibi having fought you, it's likely that they'll be out for you, too."

"What about that kunoichi from the eastern coast?"

"They probably couldn't find her, or don't want to bother to travel that far." Kakuzu shrugged. "I don't know, exactly. I can't read demons' minds. It's entirely possible that they may want her in lieu of you. It might come down to whichever they catch first."

-.-.-

Neji and Kakuzu patrolled the northern edge of the desert for several days, but didn't come across any other ninja, let alone Sasori. They'd wasted that time, and eventually they were forced to give up and move on. Neither of them were particularly happy about this, and tempers were strained as they 'debated' over which way to go next.

"I say we go back north." Neji crossed his arms, standing his ground both figuratively and literally. "Iwa is the only lead we have."

"Don't you think that they would have _moved_ after you and Sasori nearly killed one of them?! They won't just stay in the same damn place--they're strong, not stupid!" Kakuzu snarled, ducking his head behind his uniform's collar. Neji had learned over the past few days that that was how he tried to control his temper. It was a vain effort, anyway.

"Where else do you propose, then?!"

"Any of the other old Akatsuki bases! If they're hell bent on irony, then they'd choose one of them!"

"Well, which _one_?" Neji persisted.

"I don't know! Any of them!! It could be the one in Suna land, or it could be the one that was nearest Kumo."

"How many are there?"

"You mean how many will house demons of that size," Kakuzu corrected coldly, "There are not too many, but enough to make things fucking difficult until we narrow down the choices. How long will the Uchiha brat escape any attacks?"

"I don't know. Even if they capture Sasuke, though, eventually they will have to come for you. We could always wait it out." Neji mulled that thought over. It was possible. They could merely wait for the Bijuu to come to then, but what if their theory was wrong and they had already created Jinchuuriki by then? There was no telling when the Bijuu would show up, how many of them, or which ones. With an Akatsuki member and himself, they could take down the Shichibi and below. _Maybe _they could fight the Hachibi; Kakuzu was the powerhouse of the Akatsuki, unlike Sasori, but if it was the Kyuubi who came for Kakuzu, then they would lose. It was as simple like that.

It was entirely too uncertain, with too many variables, for it to be a good plan. Their best bet was to ambush the Bijuu on their own time to spring the prisoners.

"That wouldn't work," Kakuzu replied gruffly, voicing Neji's thoughts.

"So we need to search old Akatsuki bases or find Sasori and see if he has any new leads," the brunette said quietly with a frown. "Where are the bases you would think they would utilize?"

"It's not just that… There are a few requirements. It'd have to be a large enough base to house demons, and they'd have to _know_ about it, dipshit. I can tell you the location of every Akatsuki base in the goddamn world and the Bijuu themselves would only know about a handful."

"_You_ were the one who said it could be 'any of them'!" Neji snapped in reply.

"I said we could narrow it down! You're the one in the dark here, Hyuuga."

"Only because you're keeping me there."

They got along swimmingly.

After both men stormed off to fume for what rapidly turned into several hours, they grudgingly got back together to discuss some actual plans. Kakuzu described the basic areas where the Akatsuki bases that fit _all_ of the requirements that the Bijuu needed. There were only a few, and they could cross two off of the list automatically: the one in Iwa the demons had just vacated, and one of two in Suna. They could safely say that no Bijuu were there because it wasn't too far from their current position, and they definitely would have noticed if any demons had been coming or going.

"There's one near Kiri?" Neji asked in surprise. He hadn't expected that.

"It's an _old_ one. Moreover, it's probably not home to any demons, either, but you never know. The cowardly bitches might've wanted to escape us so badly they'd hide out on an island. And I'll admit, it's one of the last places any of us would look for them," Kakuzu explained impatiently, narrowing his eyes.

"They wouldn't cross the sea, though. Not unless they were really cornered, which they're not."

"Why wouldn't they?"

"The Nibi hates water. It had to ride on the Sanbi's shell in order to get to Kiri."

"So we can cross that one off for now…"

It was in this way that they continued to whittle the list down.

-.-.-

Next Chapter: Enemies inch closer to Sunagakure, until the heat and strain makes tempers snap like twigs. Who is supposed to be allied with who now? Seishirou tries to keep Hitomi safe, Sasori is trying to kill all three of them, and Tomozou figures out just what's up with Seishirou and his differences from his family.


	16. Suna Night

It was a dark night in the rebuilt Sunagakure. 'Rebuilt' was really a biased term; this new village was nowhere near where the previous one had stood, and its architecture had seemed to dramatically change. Old Sunagakure had been rounded, sandy, and flexible. This one was full of sharp corners and spires; it was made from the harder sand of the southern deserts, and it just seemed _brittle_. That was a good word for the village. If you asked any villager what they thought of the town, they might not say brittle, but they would undoubtedly think it.

Sunagakure was now a hard town, but if anything came to destroy it again, it would certainly snap into small shards. The most anyone could hope for was that those shards would hurt their attacker. The village's only defense, save that desperate hope for sharp shards, was its hidden location. It gave new meaning to the term Hidden Village. Very few knew of its existence, and even less knew of its actual location. Most of that population lived there, never straying beyond its borders.

One upside, however, of their new village and location was that sandstorms weren't nearly as common as they had been.

This made for some truly peaceful nights. It also meant that any nasty Bijuu sneaking up on them wouldn't have the cover of any sandstorm, like the Ichibi and Shichibi had had on their last run-in with Sunagakure. Border patrol wasn't nearly as detestable, and on calm, warm nights, it was almost enjoyable, provided that you liked the company.

One Hanamura Kinshirou was in such a situation, except for the very last factor: he did _not_ like his partner on the border patrol. That technically wasn't the only thing he didn't like, either, since it was nearly two in the morning. _Everyone_ knew that any enemies--they didn't have any, short of the Bijuu, since no one knew Suna's new position--attacked at dawn or dusk. Not at two in the goddamn morning.

His partner, Ai, was clearly trying to stay awake. Her head kept dropping down onto her chest, only to bob back up again a moment later. Kinshirou found himself watching her more than the deserted desert around them. Ha, he made a pun. He couldn't suppress a grin; there was nothing else in their little stakeout (a sand dune) or immediate area (more sand dunes) to amuse him, aside from mental jokes.

"You should be trying to keep me awake…" she grumbled finally, raising her head and stretching. Ai yawned loudly, giving herself a slap on the cheek to try to wake herself up a bit more. She glared at Kinshirou, who looked away, back out to the moonlit sands. "Hanamura! I'm serious."

"Go back to sleep, hime. It's bad enough you were put on this mission; I don't want to have to _baby sit_ you, too," Kinshirou grunted in response, setting his chin in his palm. He could barely see anything out there, but pretending to look was better than staring at her all night. She wasn't exactly attractive.

"I am not a princess!" she retorted.

"You're just the eldest daughter of the Kazekage," he said flatly, sighing. "Go back to sleep. It was _quiet_ before you woke up."

"It's _still_ plenty quiet," Ai replied, dropping her voice into a whisper, "And I'm _not_ going back to sleep. It looks bad on the mission report."

"I won't mention it if you don't."

"That's falsifying documents!"

Kinshirou turned to her, losing patience. "I don't give a flying fuck, hime. Just go back to sleep or shut up."

The second he let his eyes off of the desert around him, what do you know, something appeared. Out of _all_ of the nights of the year, and all of the hours of the night, it was at the precise moment that he turned away that something chose to show up. If it was an enemy, they would have been in trouble. Instead, whatever it was just crept into the moonlight from a dune's shadow, appearing in the two ninja's peripheral vision.

Both Kinshirou and Ai snapped their heads back to attention once they caught sight of the movement. Kinshirou was already reaching for a kunai; Ai was forming signs.

It was a little girl. She was dressed in ragged, scarlet clothes, but the moonlight washed it out to a dull pink. Her hair was black, presumably, though the moon sapped that of any color it might have had as well. She stumbled forward, seeming weak on her feet, hands held just in front of her face, as if she were about to cry. The thing that struck the two Suna-nin most, however, were her eyes. They were as large and as pale as the moon above. She almost seemed like a ghost, staring at them with those white eyes, glistening with unshed tears.

"Please…" the little girl called out, her voice high and feeble in the empty night air.

Neither Kinshirou nor Ai moved or replied. Sure, her clothes were in tatters and she was barefoot, but she didn't appear too dirty, and her hair was immaculate. She wasn't some ragged runaway like she was probably hoping they'd think.

"Please," she repeated, tripping a bit in the sand. It did come up to her bare ankles, and Kinshirou couldn't help but feel a stab of pity. Or maybe it was amusement at her stupidity. How dumb did she think _they_ were? They were Suna shinobi, after all, even if Ai was a total ditz. They weren't going to be tricked by some doe eyes and a weak voice.

"Stay where you are," Ai commanded, voice clear. "If you come any closer, we will have to take defensive procedures."

Kinshirou rolled his eyes _Defensive procedures? Good thing this is a little girl, or we would have lost about a thousand dignity points just then_, he couldn't help but think.

"Please… Help me." The little girl didn't come any closer, however.

"What is your problem?" Kinshirou asked, cutting across Ai before she could say anything else stupid.

"There… There is a bad man, he is chasing me… Please, help me," the little girl said, tears finally dripping off of her lashes, down her cheeks, and into the sand below. "Please, I do not know what to do."

"Who is the bad man?" Ai asked sympathetically.

"He-He is…" She hung her head and sobbed, more tears dripping down onto the sand burying her feet.

"Who is it?" Kinshirou demanded, much more harshly than his partner.

"That would be me." He had barely heard the words before he felt the blow.

-.-.-

"Did we really have to kill them?" Seishirou asked with a disgusted face. He was staying carefully away from the two corpses, mindful of all of the blood. The other three looked up in unison, with matching bloodied and dull expressions. He grimaced, looking away. "That's what I thought…"

"It is easier this way. It's not like there are any other clothing stores around here for us to get Suna attire in," Sasori explained as he put the slightly bloody cloth over his equally red hair.

"Tomozou and I aren't going to have anything to wear," Seishirou pointed out.

"The important thing is to get me out of my uniform," Sasori pointed out, just as calmly.

"This isn't going to fit Hitomi-san." Tomozou held up the woman's over shirt against him; it was large, even on him. Seishirou squinted and turned his back on the scene. He was _not_ going to watch them strip corpses and try on their clothes as the bodies were still cooling.

"It's covered with blood, anyway," he muttered. Unlike Sasori, who had gotten luck in scoring a red Suna uniform, the kunoichi's had been white. The blood showed up, even at night. Hitomi would look like some sort of horror film dropout, complete with bloodstains and creepy eyes.

"Her old outfit was covered in blood, too. The only difference is that it wasn't human blood." Tomozou didn't seem bothered in the least by their actions. Neither did Sasori. The most disturbing thing was probably that _Hitomi_ was going along with her two idols without a qualm. Seishirou looked over his shoulder as Tomozou held up the over shirt against his sister. "Hmm… The sleeves didn't get any blood on them. If she wears her current shirt overtop it and just lets the sleeves show, she should be fine."

"My current shirt is dirty," she protested softly.

"Yeah, and this is dirty, too. It's only until we get into Suna. Once we're _in_ the city, we'll take it over, and then you can have all of the clean clothes you want," Tomozou replied with a smile that almost seemed gentle. Hitomi looked up at him, cheeks red, before looking down at the white shirt. Without a further objection, she took it from him. Seishirou had to draw the line when she began stripping, however.

"No! Hitomi-chan, have some shame and go change behind a sand dune or something!" Seishirou snapped, probably more harshly than he'd intended. Hitomi stared at him, hurt, before getting up and heading to said sand dune dejectedly. He frowned as she passed him. Now he knew how their parents felt whenever they misbehaved. Boy, he'd definitely be a good kid from then on.

"What's your problem?" Tomozou asked once she was out of earshot.

"My sister was going to take off her shirt in front of you!"

"It's not like I was going to _look_! I have a bit of decency, you know."

"That's a surprise." Soon enough, the boys were wrestling once more, trying to bury each other in the sand around them. Sasori sighed and let them go at it, working around them. He had gotten used to it, after all, with those past few days of traveling with all three children.

It had almost become a sort of routine. Tomozou and Seishirou would fight, Hitomi would look on impassively, and Sasori would try his hardest to ignore them while steering them through the treacherous Suna desert. On the first day, they had nearly died of dehydration--Tomozou was the worst off--and on the first night, they had nearly froze (Sasori took pity on them during the night and put them in a pile with his own uniform as a blanket). After that, the three quieted down considerably and followed his orders with a lot less complaining.

Fortunately, it had only taken a few days to cross the harshest parts of the desert. Then, that night, they had come across the border patrol: their first lucky break. Seishirou had protested to Hitomi being used as the distraction while Sasori snuck around behind them, but she had complacently told him that she could handle herself. And even he had to admit that she was a better actress than what he would've guessed.

"How are we going to get into the actual village? We reek of blood. Especially you two," Seishirou asked from where he had Tomozou in a headlock. The younger of the two was busy scrabbling for either air or an escape.

"How is that out of the norm?" Sasori replied in kind, tugging at the Suna uniform's red sleeves. He obviously didn't seem very comfortable in it, and Seishirou half wanted to ask why that was. Just as he was about to, Tomozou elbowed him hard in the stomach, and he doubled over with a wheeze. Now the fight continued between the boys. Sasori sighed, still pulling at his sleeves. "Everyone is a little ragged and bloody these days. You just didn't notice because you were too busy being coddled in Kirigakure. Not all of the villages are as well off as you were."

"Yeah, but most refugees would have enough sense to avoid heading into any village while wearing bloody clothes," Tomozou replied, having switched their previous positions.

"In some cases, such a thing is impossible to avoid. Such as now." Hitomi came back then. She didn't seem fazed by the fight or the argument, and instead strode immediately over to Sasori and glued herself to his arm. "May we go now? It would be nice if we could get some sleep in a real bed…"

"We probably won't reach the village tonight. Once we get into it, we have to act quickly to avoid more problems. We would already be under suspicion because you're foreigners--"

"Technically, you are too," Tomozou interjected as Seishirou flailed in his grasp.

"--and your stupid antics will probably just get us into more trouble. Thus, there is a need for haste," Sasori finished as if he hadn't heard him. "We'll probably get there by sunset… Optimistically, of course."

-.-.-

Hitomi didn't like the desert, she had decided. She'd decided that the first day of traveling. She was tired, she had a sunburn on the back of her neck and her arms, she was thirsty, she was constantly sweaty, and Seishirou and Tomozou wouldn't stop fighting. Even if it was a million degrees out, they'd probably fight over who got to combust first.

"You're drinking water like it's going out of style." Seishirou tried to grab one of Tomozou's water bottles, but he only ended up getting a fist to the face as he tried. "Come on, stop it. You'll faint again if you run out of water now."

"Look, I _need_ to drink lots of water," Tomozou replied snappishly, glaring at Seishirou with a hostility that hadn't appeared until they entered the desert. Hitomi watched him curiously. He, unlike Seishirou and herself, wasn't sunburned in the least. He didn't even appear all that flushed. He just sweated.

"If I were losing that much water, I'd need to drink often, too," Sasori said, sounding amused.

Seishirou glared at him before demanding, "Whose side are you on?!"

"Frankly, Tomozou's."

"He's drinking more than Hitomi-chan and me combined!"

"That's a bit of a stretch. Even if he was, he's also sweating more than you two, and his genetic makeup isn't made for the desert. You and Hitomi are much more suited for this. Well, you more so than her…" Sasori tilted his head to the side with a small frown. "I don't see how you two can attract the single most unsuited person in the _world_ for every single trip."

"Ryo wasn't unsuited," Seishirou replied quietly, in a tone that probably should have told Sasori to back off.

"He died, so apparently he was unsuited for _something_ in that situation." Sasori didn't heed the warning.

Hitomi hastily ducked as Seishirou aimed a windmill kick at Sasori's head. He grabbed Seishirou's ankle before it could connect, however, and threw Seishirou to the side as he would a rag doll. Hitomi rushed to her brother's side, helping him back to his feet, scowling when she saw how badly his cheek had been scraped by the sand. "Now we have to stop," she said, turning to Sasori with that same scowl. "Seishirou is hurt and we have to make sure it does not get infected."

"_Who_ is the one causing problems now, huh?" Tomozou remarked loftily, sitting down where he was.

"If you three can't make it, maybe I'll leave you behind."

"You needed us for the takeover of the village." Now, the redhead--though his hair was hidden beneath his hood--was the aim of three glares.

"Plans can be changed. It'll be easier to sneak in and interrogate the leader alone, anyway."

"Fine then!" Seishirou snapped, throwing a handful of sand in Sasori's direction. It scattered harmlessly in the air halfway there. "Go on without us! You're the one who dragged us into this godforsaken desert, so you're the one who brought all of this on yourself! You're the one who is having this trouble with the Bijuu, and it was the Akatsuki who brought the Bijuu to our parents, anyway! It's all _your_ fault, not ours!"

"You're just harmless victims, then?" Sasori asked calmly, not rising to the bait. "Poor, lost souls, victimized because of circumstances?"

"No, we're victimized because of certain Akatsuki members who keep popping up," Tomozou replied disdainfully.

"You're not in this argument," Sasori said sharply. "Your parents were targeted regardless of the Akatsuki."

"And who do you think was it who let the demons first out, huh? If you could have kept a better leash on your pets, none of this would have happened--"

Tomozou was hoisted into the air by his throat before he could finish his sentence. His feet dangled over the sand, and he tried vainly to pull Sasori's hand away from his neck. Sasori glowered at the struggling pink-haired boy. "You know _nothing_ of what the Akatsuki has done or been through. Don't talk as if this was a simple mistake of us letting a few demons out. You--Oh, fuck it all. I'm just going to kill you three here and solve a lot of problems now. I should have done that in the beginning."

"Wh-What the hell?!" Both Seishirou and Hitomi were taken aback, not only by his words, but by his sudden violence.

"Sasori, put Tomozou down! You do not mean any of that--"

"I _do_ mean it. I--" Sasori was cut off as Tomozou suddenly broke free, using his white sword to stab the redhead through the arm. He dropped to the ground and pulled his weapon out in the same movement, slightly surprised that there was no blood to be seen.

"If you're going to fight us, you're going to regret it," Tomozou growled. "I don't care if you're fucking Akatsuki or not."

"Stop it, both of you!" Hitomi shouted in a high voice.

"I'm not going to stop! This bastard just tried to _kill_ me!" Tomozou shouted back at her, temporarily turning towards her. Sasori took advantage of that and tried to attack him again, but he underestimated Tomozou's reflexes and got another sword to the arm as a result. "Stop standing around and either help or get killed!"

Seishirou didn't need any further pushing. He may have fought with Tomozou, but he hated Sasori more. Hitomi could only stand there and scream at them all to stop it. She wasn't going to get in the middle of it. And why should she? She honestly didn't know which side she'd choose. On one hand, she knew they were being nuisances, but that was only because they were still human. Sasori didn't have to deal with sweating or dehydration or heatstroke. On the other, however, Sasori was the one who was abusing them, and they needed to fight back or die. She didn't know how serious he really was, but he looked pretty serious to her…

Things escalated when Seishirou brought out a fire jutsu and nearly caught Sasori in it. He, in return, called out one of his puppets, the white-haired one that used electricity as its weapon. It made a lunge for Seishirou while Sasori went for Tomozou, but Seishirou grounded it with another well-timed _Katon_. Tomozou, for his part, ducked out of Sasori's grasp yet again, though he just got yanked back by the sword a moment later. Sasori pulled back his hand for a punch, but instead opened it so that the palm faced Tomozou's head.

"Stop it!!" Hitomi suddenly tackled Sasori, and the three of them--Tomozou pulled along by the sword still--went sprawling in the sand. Tomozou didn't waste the opportunity, and started a desperate wrestling match to try to pin Sasori's hands down so that he couldn't do any more of his puppeteering. Maybe, if Seishirou had been with them, they would have been successful. Since he wasn't, Sasori just threw them off, and changed tactics. Hitomi was an easier target, anyway.

Sasori got to his feet, calmly walked over, and picked Hitomi up by her wrist as she was trying to get out of the sand. Tomozou, the faster of the two, charged Sasori from behind and thrust his sword through the redhead's neck. He stumbled back in shock, however, as Sasori spun around and kicked him back into the sand, sword still imbedded in his throat.

"Let go of me!" Hitomi tried to hit him, but his arm was much longer than hers.

Sasori opened his mouth to reply to her, but was cut off when, all of a sudden, the ground around them rushed up and ate them.

-.-.-

Sasori's puppet suddenly went lifeless, much to Seishirou's astonishment. He looked around wildly, but Sasori was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Hitomi. Tomozou, however, was staring in shock at something just in front of him; Seishirou saw nothing but sand.

"What the hell just happened?! Where's Hitomi?" Tomozou shouted, jumping to his feet and waving his arms wildly. He pointed at the sand, too astonished to say anything else.

"Isn't that what I should be asking you?!" Seishirou demanded shrilly. He didn't know where his enemy _or_ his little sister were; those were two very frightening facts for a young genin. "Hitomi-chan? Hitomi-chan--!!"

"Relax. If she had enough sense to hold her breath, she's fine." Both boys jumped, snapping back to their defensive stances. Seishirou noticed that Tomozou didn't have his sword anymore; would he have to fight without it? Come to think of it, he hadn't really seen Tomozou do much else than punch, kick, and stab people…

On top of one of the taller sand dunes, there stood a man. Somehow, he had snuck up on them, and obviously he was the one responsible for the disappearances of both Sasori and Hitomi. He jumped off of the dune, reappearing just a moment later in front of them. He was taller than they had originally thought, but that really wasn't what had initially caught their attention. What caught their attention was his very familiar uniform, black with red clouds on it.

Tomozou jumped back as another man appeared on the scene. Seishirou didn't have the same reaction time, however, so he just managed to give an undignified yelp as he was picked up from behind. "Wh-Wha--?"

"Sei! I'm so glad you're safe!" Seishirou craned his neck back, the back of his head resting on the man's shoulder. He broke out into a wide smile when he saw his dad's smiling face.

"Dad!" He immediately started squirming, trying to get into a position to return the hug. "Dad--you're alive!"

"Did you think a mere demon could kill me?" Neji set him down, only to have Seishirou tackle him in another hug.

"No--but--you… you never came back," Seishirou replied, face buried in his father's shirt. The brunette man set a hand on his head, tilting it back so that he could look at him again.

"I came back now. I'm sorry it took so long."

As all of this was going on, the other, taller man was fishing a coughing Hitomi out of the sand. He hoisted her up, sand dripping from her like water, and set her back on the ground beside Tomozou. She wobbled, and he held out a hand to steady her, more out of reflex than any sort of compassion. She coughed and wiped her eyes, blinking blearily until she realized that Tomozou had his arm around her shoulders; then, with a speed that belied her age, she got away from him and hid behind the tall Akatsuki-nin.

"Back off unless you want Sasori to go for you again," he grunted, shooing her away.

Hitomi shuffled nervously away from him, looking around in distress--that is, until her white eyes found her father. With a squeal of joy, she rushed over to get in on the hugging, ignoring her messy hair and clothes and sand.

Tomozou watched the family hug, a bit jealously. To prevent him from doing something stupid, however, he turned to the new Akatsuki-nin and asked, "What exactly did you do?"

"I used a _Doton_ to put them both underground. You can't do much in the way of killing little girls when there's that much sand separating you," he replied curtly, before making another hand sign. He then reached down into the sand and pulled Sasori back up by the back of the collar.

"I don't have to breathe, so I don't see why you had to separate us that way," was the first thing that came out of his mouth. Tomozou growled at him, but Sasori only spared him a small glance. "Kakuzu, when did you get into Suna?"

"Awhile ago. Waiting for your sorry ass. If I'd have known that all you were doing was beating up children, though, I would've caught up with you awhile ago."

"I had a good reason to," Sasori replied, brushing sand off of his sleeves. He then shook his head, dislodging even more. Then, he fixed his comrade with a flat glare. "I do hope you know what kind of fuss the girl is going to make once she realizes just how much sand she has on her body."

"If she does, I'll just put her back in the sand," the man replied simply.

-.-.-

That night, they camped as close to Sunagakure as they dared. It was still quite cheery, however. Both Hitomi and Seishirou were leaning against their father. Sasori was sitting with Kakuzu, discussing things in low voices. Those two groups meant that Tomozou was alone on his side of the fire, glaring daggers at them all.

"--And you should have seen it, dad! She was just _covered_ in blood, and it was as if she didn't even know it!"

"I _knew_ I was covered in blood."

"I'm more surprised that you knew how to properly butcher a goat, much less a mountain goat," their father said wryly, though he was smiling at the anecdote. "Had you ever seen an Iwa mountain goat before, Hitomi-chan?"

"No," she admitted, looking down at her lap in embarrassment. "But… Most animal physiology is the same, is it not?"

"Not quite… But you could probably get away with a lot of mammals operating on the same principle."

Tomozou stared at the happy little family across the flames, knees drawn up to his chest. He was sulking, yes, but he wasn't stupid enough to _merely_ sulk. He was also thinking.

Sure, he had seen pictures of their family before, but seeing it live, in person, made a lot more sense. Hitomi looked a lot like her dad, especially with the dark hair and white eyes combination. Seishirou seemed out of place. Tomozou fiddled with his white sword, scowling behind his knees. Seishirou wasn't a part of their family, not by blood, but he still got his happy family all together, nice and neat and joyful. He couldn't help the envy, but Tomozou tried his damned hardest to suppress it. After all, his family was _much_ better, and they were missing their mother still, anyway. They weren't _completely_ perfect…

_Who were Seishirou's parents, then?_ he thought. Ninja never had 'no reason' for adopting another kid; adoption was actually fairly rare, except in times of war and disaster. True, he was twelve, and that put him back to the initial Bijuu-Akatsuki battle, and that was as much of a disaster as anything else in the world, but… There were too many coincidences.

How did they know of the Akatsuki? Or rather--how did the Akatsuki know of _them_? Hitomi seemed to idolize Sasori, and Kakuzu hadn't hesitated to rescue her. Moreover, Sasori seemed to harbor conflicting feelings toward Seishirou, usually either disdain or some sort of distant affection. It was entirely possible--likely, even--that Sasori had known Seishirou's parents. Maybe Kakuzu, too. And Neji, their father, knew both Akatsuki-nin rather well.

It made sense, then, that both Neji and the Akatsuki knew Seishirou's parents.

_Sasori, Kakuzu, Itachi, Kisame…_ Tomozou tried to name them all, but only got those four. There were ten members; he was missing six. Sasori and Kakuzu got along fine, but he doubted they were partners in the organization; that meant that two more were their partners. Four strangers in the organization were left unknown to him.

_Could… Could one of those deceased members have been Seishirou's father?_ Maybe it wasn't even one of the dead members, he realized excitedly. There were still four members alive. Maybe, _maybe_ one of them was Seishirou's father. Maybe that was why the two Akatsuki-nin there that night didn't look at Seishirou at all, and maybe why Sasori seemed to act so weird, and it just answered _so_ many questions.

First things first, then. Tomozou set down his sword and crawled over to where Sasori and Kakuzu were conversing. Both men stopped and looked at him as he approached, not entirely welcome. "Sorry to interrupt," Tomozou said, though he was nothing of the sort, "But I have a few questions about your illustrious organization."

-.-.-

Next Chapter: Tomozou gets his questions answered. Did he ask the right ones, though? Neji finds out why Sasori was attacking his children, and Kakuzu amuses himself with trying to figure out why they're both acting so sentimental. But--what's this? Hitomi's sudden breakdown leads to a halt in all plans, for a group 'talk'...


	17. Answers Found

"What kind of questions?" Sasori asked, though he knew full well what kind of questions Tomozou was going to ask. Tomozou was not stupid, naïve, or blinded by familial love, like the other two children currently were. He was probably feeling spiteful and devious, not only because Sasori had beat him into the ground earlier, but because Hitomi and Seishirou left him alone the second they got their father back.

"I'm not asking _you_--I still hate you," Tomozou snapped, narrowing his cyan eyes. He nodded towards Kakuzu. "I'm asking _him_. He was the one who stopped you for us, you psychopath."

"I've been called worse…" Sasori said loftily, setting his chin in his hand. Kakuzu snorted, trying to keep from chuckling. Sasori gave him a look, however, that said not to give too much away. This was dangerous information to give to a kid.

"Shoot, then." Kakuzu turned to him, looking faintly amused. He'd taken off his mask and head wrap earlier that day, complaining of the heat, and had neglected to put either of them back on. It was clear that Tomozou was still trying to adjust to his stitches.

"Who were the members of the Akatsuki?"

He was a pretty smart kid, Sasori noted. He knew better than to ask directly about Seishirou.

Kakuzu tilted his head back, pretending to think. Tomozou saw through it, however, and huffed--but he knew better than to rush a man easily twice his size. "Well… Let's see…"

"Better get that old brain of yours working again, Kakuzu. Get the cobwebs out of there," Sasori joked halfheartedly.

"Coming from the man who probably _does_ have cobwebs between his ears," Kakuzu replied without missing a beat. "Akatsuki members. Before or after the Bijuu battle?"

"Before, obviously," Tomozou said with a frown.

"That's still not very specific. You see, between the two of us here, we've gone through… Oh, about five partners? All of them complete assholes. Are you counting those, or--" Sasori couldn't suppress a smile. It was kind of sad they were taking advantage of a kid for their own amusement, but oh well. He didn't have a conscience.

"The ten members that fought the Bijuu, twelve years ago!" Tomozou said, probably a bit more loudly than he should have. The other three in their group looked up at the outburst. Sasori saw Neji narrow his eyes a bit; he knew what they were talking about. Seishirou just stared at them cluelessly with his ringed eyes. Neji quickly drew the other two's attention again with the conversation, leaving the other three relatively alone. But Sasori knew the Hyuuga man would be listening.

Kakuzu pointed at himself, then jerked a thumb towards Sasori. "Us. Our partners, Hidan and Deidara. Zetsu, and his partner, Tobi. Itachi and Kisame, and then there was Leader-sama and his partner, Konan."

"I knew about all of them except Zetsu, Tobi, Konan, and the leader," Tomozou said, mostly to himself. He took a few moments to think. Kakuzu shot Sasori a wry smirk, clearly wondering how much they could get away with before another outburst.

"How'd you know about Itachi and Kisame?" Kakuzu asked in amusement. "Do the academies actually remember them?"

"I never went to school."

"His mother is Karin," Sasori said, cutting across Tomozou's answer. Kakuzu's reaction was worth it. His head snapped towards Sasori so fast he was surprised he didn't snap it.

"Fucking _serious_?"

"Three guesses as to who his father is," the redhead said by way of acknowledgement.

"Wow." Kakuzu turned back to Tomozou, grabbing his chin and tilting his face towards the firelight. "I guess I didn't notice it before… Holy shit. He looks just like Suigetsu."

"You knew my parents?" The kid obviously couldn't believe this, and remained skeptical after Kakuzu released him.

"I knew…_of_ them. Sasori knew them a bit more personally." He shrugged. Then, a sudden thought struck him in the form of, "Hey… Does this mean that Orochimaru's his fucking _grandfather_?"

"Who the hell is Orochimaru?"

"In a way, it kind of is," Sasori allowed, trying hard not to laugh. "I'm merely amazed that the kid isn't a puddle of water somewhere, with how unstable his DNA probably is."

"Hey, kid, can you take a hit?" Kakuzu asked, peering down at him.

Tomozou bobbed his head fiercely, glowering at them both. "I know what you two are talking about, but I don't know who Orochimaru is." He wouldn't let the matter drop.

"My partner prior to Deidara," Sasori supplied flatly. "In a way, he caused most of this."

"How?"

Once again, Tomozou was ignored as the two men spoke. Kakuzu blinked, and then nodded. "You know what? That's fucking right. If Deidara hadn't killed off that creepy bastard, he wouldn't have met that princess, and he probably wouldn't have fallen for--"

"Point is, Orochimaru's responsible for a lot of things," Sasori interrupted. "Who knows what life would have turned out like if he hadn't died so conveniently."

"I almost wish my old dumbass partners had died more important deaths, now. Instead, all they gave me was Hidan."

"But he has such a _winning_ personality."

"Yeah, I'll say. I hope the Bijuu eat him and shit him back out before we find him. Then I can finally bury him without having to worry about stitching him back together."

Tomozou cleared his throat, and the two returned their attention to him. "Did all of those members you listed die on the night of the Bijuu attack?" he asked, clearly trying to keep from snapping at them again.

"Depends."

"On _what_?"

"On how specific you want to be. Technically, Itachi died that night, but not as a result of the Bijuu--"

"I know, I know, Sasuke-san killed him. But what about the other five?"

"Sasuke-san? You know him, too?"

Tomozou glared up at them, his mouth a thin line. Obviously he wasn't going to get into his own history when he wanted to know about the Akatsuki's.

Kakuzu sighed and leaned back again. "Hmph. Kids these days. No fun."

"I agree," Sasori said blandly.

"My question."

"Fine, fine, lay the fuck off while we try to figure out just how much to tell you."

Tomozou's eyes widened, catching the firelight. He darkened back into a scowl just a moment later, however, as he figured out that Kakuzu was teasing him again. "Knock it off!"

"Why? There's nothing else to do."

"Look, I just want to know which stupid member of the stupid Akatsuki was Sei's--" Kakuzu clamped his hand over Tomozou's mouth, shutting him up. Both he and Sasori looked over towards the happy family, who thankfully hadn't noticed, save Neji.

"Sasori, damage control. Neji needs to know we're not too much of a threat just yet," Kakuzu said quietly. He stood up, dragging Tomozou along with him. "Come on, kid. We're taking a walk."

-.-.-

Tomozou let himself be dragged off into the desert night, though he wasn't happy about it. He merely knew that he didn't stand a chance in hell against Kakuzu, and if he didn't cause a scene, he might just get some questions answered.

Once they were far enough away that the fire was just a pinpoint of light on the distant horizon, Kakuzu sighed, running a hand through his long hair as he stopped walking. Tomozou stared sullenly at him. "You're causing a lot of trouble, kid,"

"I just want to know a few things."

"Like what? This time, none of those games. I can see through them before you can even think of them, and they're getting really fucking annoying." Kakuzu sighed again, and Tomozou didn't miss him roll his eyes.

"Which Akatsuki member was Sei's dad?" Tomozou asked flatly. That was the heart of the matter, though if he really was going to find out whatever he wanted about the Akatsuki, he had a few other questions in mind, too…

"Only his dad?" Kakuzu obviously was talking to himself, but Tomozou heard it nonetheless. "Hmm. …Well, I really don't have much control over you, short of the fact that I could snap you like a twig, but here's the deal. I'll tell you enough to sate your curiosity, but you _can not_ let Seishirou know. Or the little girl."

"Deal." So he was finding out stuff they shouldn't know? That was even better.

"So… Seishirou's father, as you've guessed, was a member of the Akatsuki." Tomozou had known it, but he hadn't necessarily _realized_ it.

"How did he end up with Hitomi's parents, then?"

Kakuzu gave him a flat look. "…I can tell right now that you're going to go off on tangents."

"We have all night. Suna will still be there for us tomorrow."

"We're waiting until sundown to attack."

"It will still be there for us tomorrow at _sundown_."

Kakuzu sighed, obviously seeing that not even logic would deter Tomozou from his attack. "Right. Well then, let's see… Hinata--Hitomi's biological mother--was best friends with Deidara, Sasori's partner. She, because of Deidara and his influence, was kind of adopted into the Akatsuki as a sort of…princess."

"Wait, what--?"

"Don't ask. I'm not elaborating on their fairytale," Kakuzu replied wearily. "Ask Sasori about it sometime, though. He'll _love_ that." It was clear that Sasori wouldn't love that, which was precisely why Tomozou made a mental note to do that.

"So, Hitomi's mom was adopted. That's how they knew the Akatsuki members?"

"Yes."

"What about Sei, then?"

"His father was an Akatsuki member."

"'Was'. So he's dead, then."

"Yes. His mother is dead, too. Because of…situational problems, Hinata and Neji took Seishirou as they fled the village of Amegakure."

"What do you mean--?"

"I mean what I mean. If things had been planned more carefully, I doubt Hinata would have ended up with the damn kid. But they weren't, and half our organization up and died that night," Kakuzu snapped, patience all but gone at that point. Tomozou hid a sheepish smile and relented.

"So… His parents both died that night. How old was he then?"

"A little over a week, I think… Young."

"…May I ask who Orochimaru was?" Tomozou asked timidly, sensing the edge of Kakuzu's tolerance of him.

"Sasori's old partner. He told you that."

"I meant… What connection did he have to my parents?"

"Why not ask Sasori? He knew about it more than I did. I only tolerated Orochimaru and his experiments. I never had a hand in them like the Suna bastard. Any _more_ questions?"

Of course he had more, but Kakuzu's tone made it more than clear that he shouldn't ask them just then. "N-No."

That night, he couldn't sleep. He couldn't stop thinking. _So Sei is descended from Akatsuki… And my parents have ties in this 'Orochimaru' guy, too. I wonder who he is?_ The name didn't sound particularly familiar, but then again, Tomozou didn't have the best long-term memory. He sighed and rested his head against his shoulder, the only available pillow without going to sleep by Seishirou and Hitomi. He'd done that often while they were on their own, but now, he didn't feel right intruding on their happy little family. _Feh, stupid kids, _he thought spitefully, opening his eyes to glare at their sleeping forms.

It was clear that the adults wanted him to go to sleep so they could talk, and that was part of why he was staying up. He was kind of hoping they'd get tired of waiting to discuss their plans and just go ahead with their conversation, though they didn't. Eventually, Tomozou drifted off to sleep.

-.-.-

"Is he asleep yet?" Sasori asked, glancing at Tomozou out of the corner of his eye.

"His heart rate is slowing down; yes." Neji sighed, turning off his Byakugan. To be using it again to make sure children were asleep… It left a lump in his throat. Usually it was Hinata's job to tuck the kids in and make sure they went to sleep. "So, what _did_ you tell him?"

"Little brat thinks he's hot shit figuring out that Seishirou had a dad in the Akatsuki. He didn't even bother asking about his mother." Kakuzu chuckled quietly. Neji stared at him flatly.

"What are you going to do if he tells Sei?"

"He won't. There's too much animosity between them for such secrets to be shared," Sasori replied with a smile.

"Speaking of animosity--"

"Here we go."

"--_What_ were you three doing yesterday?!" Neji demanded, ignoring Kakuzu's eye rolling. The other two probably wanted to discuss their Suna-related plans, but he wasn't going to back off until he had some clear answers. It wasn't every day you found an old friend trying to kill your daughter.

"You know how Suna traveling is," Sasori said sarcastically, waving him off. "Everyone got a little hot, and some tempers snapped."

"Sasori, I'm serious."

"I _didn't_ kill any of them, did I?" He returned Neji's glare. "I was more than a little fed up of having to wait for them constantly, and you _know_ I'm not the most patient man around."

"Were you honestly trying to kill them?"

"Maybe just Seishirou…" The brunette punched him in the shoulder, though he knew Sasori wouldn't feel any pain. "Fine. If you _must_ know, I was wondering if he would use any sort of ninjutsu he shouldn't know."

"You were testing him--? And you tried this by attempting to murder all three of them?"

"It worked. He used a _Katon_ jutsu and he nearly roasted the Copy-nin puppet." Sasori shrugged before flopping down onto the sand below. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm tired."

Neji leaned over into his view, still glaring. "You're a puppet."

"Alright, stop it, both of you." Kakuzu pulled Neji away from him. "Sasori was being a bad boy, but he did it with a good intention. End of the damn story."

"Kakuzu, you stay out of this," the Hyuuga man snapped. "You don't have children, so you don't know--"

"I'd sacrifice them to Jashin if I ever did, too, especially if I ever started acting like a pansy. What happened to the cold, beat-the-hell-out-of-anyone-who-looked-at-me-wrong Hyuuga brat I used to know?"

"No, it was whoever looked at Hinata-hime wrong," Sasori corrected. "He and Deidara had that in common."

Neji didn't appreciate being ganged up on, but even he had to admit that he wasn't so angry now that he knew Sasori's intentions (even if they were completely absurd). Plus, he knew when to let a subject drop. Though suffice it to say that he wasn't exactly going to be great friends with Sasori again for a long, long while. "…Suna, then?"

"Suna," Sasori agreed, without moving from his spot on the sand. "Though with you two here, the three brats are entirely superfluous."

"You only got them because you planned to sneak into Suna with them, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"You would have left them alone in the wilderness if you hadn't needed them."

"Yes. I dislike children."

"Funny, I recall you saying the same thing about a certain blonde awhile ago…"

-.-.-

Hitomi woke up slowly, wiggling her fingers and toes as she squinted into the morning sun. She sat up, stretching with a yawn. She'd had the most wonderful dream… Kirigakure had been safe and whole again, and she had been with her family once more. Ryo and Miki were both still alive, too. In addition to that, Tomozou was there, with a couple of people she hazily deemed his parents.

"Seishirou." She rolled over and shook her brother, slightly eager to tell him about her dream. He had been in it, after all, and for some reason he had been the Mizukage… "Seishirou, wake up."

Seishirou grunted something and rolled away from her. Hitomi, miffed, decided that he didn't need to know about her dream, after all.

"I hope you get sunburned again," she whispered vindictively, rubbing the last vestiges of sleep from her eyes. She then looked around, craning her neck around for any of the others. Hitomi frowned; Tomozou was still sleeping a little ways away, but her father and Sasori and Kakuzu were not there. "…Father?"

No response. Hitomi got to her feet, all traces of sleepiness gone. She could see where he had sat last night, when they had recapped their travels for him. But now, there was no dad in that area. The sand didn't allow for footprints very well, either.

"Father?" Still silence. Hitomi frowned, casting about for any reason he might have left her for. Did they go to Sunagakure without them? It was still early morning, with the sun just starting to rise in the sky; they had been going to leave at sun_set_, not sun_up_. "Seishirou." She marched back over towards her brother and shook him again.

"Nngh, wha?" She scowled. If she could have spared the water, she would have dumped it on him. She settled for the next best thing: sand. Seishirou bolted up immediately once he got a faceful of sand, coughing and wiping at his eyes. "Hi-Hitomi-chan! What the hell was that for?!"

"Father is missing. All of the adults are." Seishirou stared at her, trying to decide whether or not to be angry for getting woken up like that. Hitomi stared back at him, still frowning. "They were not supposed to leave us!" she finally burst out.

"They just went to Suna…"

"They were not supposed to!" she insisted, kicking the sand in front of her. "We were going to go at the beginning of twilight. _Not_ dawn."

"Maybe they wandered off to find food or water or something…" Seishirou paused, yawning. "Or they could have left to talk. Did you check the area with your Byakugan?"

"It makes me feel sick," she muttered darkly.

"Then just _sit_ and use it. You don't have to be moving, you know," he said, a bit more kindly. Hitomi, sulking, sat down because she couldn't think of a reason not to. She crossed her legs carefully in front of her, and then closed her eyes.

"Byakugan!" The colors around her faded out to black and white and some shades of blue, but no matter what color it was, sand was sand. And that was all she saw. True, her range was limited, but she didn't see any traces of where the adults had gone. Hitomi shut it off before shaking her head. "There is no one in our area."

"Well… They probably went scouting. Hitomi-chan, they didn't _leave_ you." Seishirou knew how to get to the heart of the problem, apparently.

Hitomi shook her head, pushing out her bottom lip. "Th-The last time Sasori left us… He almost never came back. If he had run into father and Kakuzu earlier, he would not have come back for us at all. Fa-Father, too, he--Every time someone comes back, they leave us again!" Frustrated, she pulled at her hair, trying her hardest not to cry in front of Seishirou.

"Hitomi--"

"Mother and father, Sasori, even Kakuzu--Ryo and Miki--even Kisho left me! Why are they all leaving? Why can they not just stay here and talk things out and-and--Why will they not just tell me what is going on?!"

By now, Tomozou was awake. He was sitting where he'd fallen asleep, rubbing at his eyes with one gloved hand, the other supporting him. Seishirou glanced at him briefly, before returning to trying to calm his sister down. "Hitomi-chan, they didn't _leave_ you. Dad is coming back, same with Sasori and Kakuzu-san. And after we get some information from Suna, then we'll go rescue mom--"

"If they did not leave, then where are they?!" she demanded furiously, blinking back the tears. Seishirou cringed, again looking to Tomozou for some sort of help. It was not forthcoming.

"They went out. I don't know where they are, but they didn't just abandon us." Seishirou tried to pull her into a hug, but she resisted and instead got to her feet. He decided to try a different approach. "Hitomi-chan, stop this drama. You're acting irrationally. Is that how a kunoichi should act?"

"I do not care! I just want my parents and my friends and _everyone back_! Now!" She stamped her foot in the sand. She was now crying in earnest, too. "Ninja are stupid if all they ever do is die!"

Tomozou chose that moment to finally come to Seishirou's rescue. "Ninja _are_ stupid like that. But everyone's stupid. Everyone dies. Get used to it." Unfortunately, his words were less than comforting.

Hitomi stared at him, unsure of how to take his words. At least she wasn't crying so loudly now…

Tomozou didn't smile or frown, but instead continued. "You, me, Sei. We're all going to die one day. Your mother, your father, my parents, we're _all_ going to die. So why worry about it? Why are you throwing this fit about it? Your dad will come back if he's alive, and if he's dead, then we'll move on."

"Fa-Father is--dead?!"

"Nice going!" Seishirou snarled, grabbing Hitomi's wrist and pulling her down into his lap. "Hitomi-chan, dad's not dead. He just left for a little while. He'll come back."

"He--He will die someday, then--"

"Hitomi-chan--Hitomi!--look at me." Seishirou grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. She blinked at him, still teary. "Yeah, the idiot is right; we're all going to die _some day_. Not today. Not soon. Some day when this is all behind us and we're happy again, okay?"

"How idealistic of you," Tomozou muttered, setting his chin in his hand. Then, he grinned suddenly. "Just like your dad, I bet."

Seishirou glowered at him, but his anger was soon put on hold as Hitomi gave a wail and buried herself in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and rocked her until she stopped crying.

-.-.-

"Hell, if I knew we were going to be assaulted, maybe we shouldn't have come back," Kakuzu remarked as Neji was suddenly tackled by two very excited children. Sasori carefully stepped away from them as Neji fell over, after a valiant battle trying to keep his balance.

"Children--what's wrong?" Neji busied himself trying to detach them both and understand them; Seishirou and Hitomi were talking at the same time, trying to speak over the other. "Shh! Hitomi-chan, you go first."

"Father is stupid!"

Sasori and Kakuzu both stifled laughs behind their hands. Neji didn't seem amused by his daughter's remark, either. "…Seishirou, your input?"

"You're stupid!"

This time, even Tomozou was trying not to laugh. Seishirou eventually got off of Neji, but Hitomi wouldn't budge. He solved the problem by picking her up, to which she immediately tried to get away. Neji kept her firmly in his arms. "Hitomi, settle down. Now." She instantly quieted, if a bit sullenly. "Now… Why am I stupid, according to you two?"

"You worried Hitomi-chan," Seishirou said accusingly. Then, he pointed towards Tomozou, adding, "And that bastard made it worse. Can you please explain to her that you're not dying any time soon?"

"Sei! Your mother has told you not to swear!" Tomozou was failing at trying not to laugh. Seishirou looked properly chagrined, before shooting a rebellious glance over his shoulder at the pink-haired boy.

"It's _his_ fault…"

"Ha-Hardly! You were swearing long before you met up with me."

"It is Sasori's fault," Hitomi spoke up, glaring at Sasori over her father's shoulder. The redhead raised both eyebrows, but offered no immediate rebuttal. He was probably more surprised at the accusation coming from her, rather than the accusation itself. "He is a bad influence on us." Then, in a tinier voice, she added, "…He should leave."

"I see I'm still not forgiven," Sasori replied simply.

"No." Neji set her down, but she stayed by his side, keeping him between them. "None of you are forgiven!" she exclaimed furiously.

"Forgiven for what?"

"For leaving again."

"Is that my crime?" Sasori asked. Neji shot him a pointed look, clearly telling him to shut up.

"Hitomi-chan, we left because we got the opportunity to go into Suna without endangering you children."

"What?!" the two boys shouted at once.

"It's always amusing to see how unskilled, inexperienced genin are _so_ excited about the dangerous missions they'd likely die on," Kakuzu remarked with a sort of fondness. Sasori nodded his agreement.

"Fuck off!" Tomozou barked at them, before turning back to Neji. "Why did you go to Suna without us?"

"They were trying to _protect_ us," Hitomi replied. It was almost like she was defending them, but the venom in her voice was hard to miss. "They thought we could not handle it."

"We've fought Bijuu, dad! _Bijuu_. I think we could handle a simple destroying mission." Seishirou set his fists on his hips, rolling his eyes at the audacity of the adults' instinct to protect the children.

"You lost Miki the first time and Ryo the second time you did that, if I recall correctly." Neji's tone made Seishirou shut up, at least for the moment. The ginger-haired genin bowed his head, cowed. He then sat up fully before standing up; he set Hitomi on the ground in front of him. "I think this conversation has shown me just how much we all need to talk." None of the children has the guts to say anything in reply, and just stared defiantly back at him.

-.-.-

Next Chapter: Talk commences! The adults explain Sunagakure's condition, while the children excite themselves over moving into new lands--and hopefully, getting one step closer to rescuing the potential Bijuu fodder. Everyone seems surprised at everyone else, however; Tomozou reveals knowledge that even the Akatsuki-nin didn't know, and Hitomi graces them all with her forgiveness.


	18. Questions Lost

"I call this meeting to order," Neji said importantly. "What shall be the topic we start with?"

The six were seated in a rough circle in the sand, in the shadow of one of the larger sand dunes. Seishirou was seated between Tomozou and Hitomi, mostly so that the pink-haired boy could keep them away from their father. Likewise, they were between him and the Akatsuki-nin.

The three children immediately raised their hands. Neji looked between the three of them, and decided to pick Tomozou first. He was probably the safest choice. The other two looked at him mutinously. "Yeah, I want to know what you did to Suna." Tomozou had to admit he was proud of himself for coming up with the safest question, while getting some valuable information out of it.

"Contrary to popular belief, we didn't raid, destroy, or level it. We snuck in, located the Kazekage, and had him divulge all of the information we needed. It took less than an hour and little blood was shed," Neji replied calmly, glancing at Kakuzu for the last phrase.

Tomozou nodded, a bit dejectedly. Then, however, he realized the implication of his words. "Wait--the information. That was about the Bijuu's movements, right? Well--?"

"They're not in Suna or the Land of Wind," Sasori said curtly.

Three faces fell in unison; they would not get their missing parents back just yet.

"Anything else related to the topic at hand?" Neji asked, grimacing at the forlorn expressions.

"…Where do we go from here?" Hitomi's voice wasn't much above a whisper. It was downright pathetic, in fact. She looked up shyly at her father, lower lip trembling.

"To another country," Neji answered softly.

"Which one?" Seishirou asked lowly, using his hair as a shield for his eyes. Both he and his sister were definitely working the 'pathetic' angle quite thoroughly.

"Let's move on to another topic first," Sasori interrupted. He and Kakuzu shared a covert glance. Before he could continue, however, most likely picking his own topic to raise, Hitomi spoke up.

"I would like to know how we plan on rescuing mother and the others." Now she didn't sound quite so pitiful; the little girl was trying her hardest to be businesslike once more.

"Storm the base. What else?"

"How can the six of us go up against that many Bijuu?" Seishirou asked, voice still low.

"Three. You three are going nowhere _near_ the demons," Neji corrected clearly. All three kids looked up at him in outrage, but none of them could even attempt to glare him down. "The _three_ of us," he motioned to himself and the two Akatsuki-nin beside him, "We will sneak into their base. We don't plan on directly fighting any of them if we can help it. Though… With the three of us, we could easily take down a demon or two."

"Don't forget the fact that we're going to be rescuing two more Akatsuki members. That will tip the odds significantly in our favor."

"Seven Bijuu, six shinobi. Not horrible odds… We may be lucky and have a demon or two gone, too, probably tracking down another body," Kakuzu pointed out.

"What are _we_ going to do while you three are taking down Bijuu, then?" Seishirou inquired, trying to keep his tone polite. He couldn't help the annoyance that seeped through, though.

Neji sighed. "You three are going to be staying in a village, hopefully one that is far away from where the Bijuu are stationed."

"There aren't many friendly villages around. Sasori said that the town we stopped in was one of the last ones that would host foreign shinobi willingly."

"That's true. But there are still a few around…" Sasori let his voice trail off. He looked pointedly at Tomozou. It took the boy a few moments, but finally, it clicked. He broke out into a wide grin.

They had already checked Iwa and Suna, and the next nearest significant country--at least, the one with the highest odds of having a 'friendly' village--had to be what he thought it was. "We're going to Ame, aren't we?" He leaned forward excitedly, still grinning. He would be going back to his own country, even if he'd only been to the village itself once or twice. He would be home, and on the way to getting his parents back.

"Ame?!" Hitomi looked startled. "It--It was destroyed."

"So was Suna," Tomozou replied happily. "Plus, the Bijuu are most likely to be in that area, now--and Dai-sama will let us stay there, especially with you two being Akatsuki--"

"Dai?! As in Daisuke?" Tomozou was taken aback when he suddenly had the attention of both Akatsuki members again. He could have sworn Neji just hid a smile, too.

"I-I think so… He's the leader of Amegakure. Didn't you know that?"

"_Someone_ neglected to tell us that little bit of helpful information…" Sasori turned to Neji, narrowing his eyes.

"I heard it from Kakuzu. Don't look at me."

"I just heard of a rebuilt Amegakure. I didn't know the leader's name." Kakuzu wasn't exactly pleased with this revelation either, though.

Neji, sensing the building animosity, decided to change the subject. Quickly. "Next topic, now that you three know our destination…"

Tomozou was still too happy about Ame to say anything, and it appeared that Hitomi was too busy watching him to bring up anything, either. Seishirou sighed, feeling that it was up to him to get things back on track. "Sasori attacked us." That sure brought the other two back to reality.

"He didn't mean to actually kill you. I believe he was only working off excess anger." The way Neji said it made Seishirou sure that it was a lie. He narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything else.

"In that case, I forgive you completely," Hitomi said with a shy smile. Both boys rolled their eyes at her.

"I don't recall _wanting_ your forgiveness," Sasori snapped. Neji elbowed him in the side, but as the puppeteer didn't feel it, he chose to ignore it.

"I also forgive you three for leaving us earlier." Hitomi continued as if she hadn't heard him. Neji gave her a strained smile, but the other two men just snorted and continued plotting Daisuke's demise.

"Hitomi… Why did you get so worked up over our absence?"

Seishirou looked mildly alarmed at the question, and briefly debated answering it for her. In the end, he decided to shut up and let her explain herself.

She looked down at her lap where her hands were folded. "…I do not like to be left alone."

Tomozou paused briefly in his grinning, looking at her curiously. "…'Do not like'? That's a _bit_ of an understatement there, don't you think?" Hitomi looked at him blankly. "The first time I found you, after the redheaded bastard left you, you were sobbing and you even threw up. When he came back, you wouldn't let go of him. Now, just when these three left for a few hours this morning, you had a tantrum and were in tears _again_."

"I-I vomited because of the Byakugan! I fell down the hill an-and--" Mortified, she could not go on, and instead buried her face in her hands. Tomozou suddenly felt like he'd betrayed her in some way, though he couldn't quite put his finger on _how_.

Seishirou, being Seishirou, decided to jump in to his sister's rescue. He glowered at Tomozou with his grey, ringed eyes. "You have a knack for being smart enough to pick up on things you shouldn't comment on, you know that?"

"You have a knack for being stupid enough to not even notice those things," he shot back. He probably shouldn't be arguing, but it was second nature to him by then. He'd been fighting with Seishirou since they met, after all, even if it hadn't been that long ago.

"Well, you have a knack for being--oomph." Both boys were suddenly forced face first into the sand. Kakuzu let go of them, retracting his hands and wiping them like he'd touched something dirty. Hitomi stared at him through her fingers. None of them had seen his threads before.

"Next topic," Kakuzu said curtly as the pair resurfaced. "We're assassinating Daisuke as soon as we get to Ame."

"No, you're not," Neji replied.

"Yes, we are. Pein said that if Midori ever went down, then Daisuke was going down--" Kakuzu realized his slip a moment too late. He turned to Tomozou with a grimace. Tomozou's eyes were glittering like jewels, and he looked as if he'd just received the present of his life. What better present could a curious child receive than the Akatsuki leader's name, anyway? "…Daisuke is going to die, regardless."

"Isn't it a bit late for any sort of punishment for the war? Plus, I know for a fact that it was Sasuke who killed her," Neji said evenly. He was carefully avoiding looking at either boy. Tomozou was still ogling, but Seishirou didn't seem at all interested in the conversation. Maybe it was just that he was comforting Hitomi, though.

"Orders are orders."

"Even to a dead organization?" That was toeing the line; even Tomozou understood that. He might not have completely understood the Akatsuki and their group, but he knew that they still had loyalty, when they chose to acknowledge it. Neji stared them down, however, and it might have been his words, or his eyes, but the two Akatsuki-nin dropped the subject.

In addition to finding out Seishirou's father's name, Tomozou gained a new respect for Neji that day.

-.-.-

The sun passed by overhead, but thankfully they were in the dune's shadow for most of the day. The talks subsided about sunset, just late enough for them to stay put and not travel any in Ame's direction, much to Tomozou's dismay. "Why are you so desperate to get back to the Land of Rain? There was nothing much there," Hitomi remarked as she poked the fire with a stick.

"Amegakure itself is where we're going, isn't it?" he replied. "There's a big difference between the village and the countryside. …More rain, too."

"I thought you said you didn't grow up in a village," Seishirou said suspiciously.

"I didn't. I didn't _lie_, either," Tomozou said primly, snorting in his direction. "I visited there a few times with my parents and Sasuke-san, though, when I was younger. It doesn't have any sort of schooling, either, since there aren't a lot of kids there."

"How does that make it a ninja village, then?"

"Villages don't need schools to make them ninja villages."

"Tomozou has a point," Hitomi said, breaking up the argument before it started. "…You said it rains a lot there."

"More like constantly." Tomozou beamed at them both. The girl beside him scooted away from his happiness shyly, blushing. Seishirou was the only one unaffected. "But it's not a bad rain, most of the time. Dai-sama says that you learn dozens of different types of rain by living there."

"This leader… Dai or Daisuke or whoever the hell it is. He seems to have Sasori and Kakuzu-san riled up, doesn't he?"

Tomozou's smile dimmed a few shades. "…Yeah. I guess it was because he killed someone in the war, and…" He trailed off, giving Seishirou the distinct impression that he was hiding something from him. "Anyway! Regardless of his crimes, he's a fun guy, and _I_ think he's a great leader."

"Good thing no one cares what you think."

He ignored the bait and instead leaned in towards them. "Say…" He cupped one hand around his mouth and kept his voice low; the secrecy of the action immediately caught their attention and held it. "…What are we going to do about Sasori?"

"We should be kind to him again," Hitomi said at once, predictably.

"No, I mean… Sensei or not?"

Seishirou had to admit he didn't know. On one hand, he _knew_ Sasori was a strong shinobi--they could all attest to that from personal experience--but on the other, Hitomi seemed to be the only one who could stand him for long periods of time. "…I don't think we should. I mean, he's only a puppeteer, so he wouldn't know that many jutsus, right? Why don't we try for Kakuzu-san instead? He--"

"No!" Tomozou hissed. "Kakuzu-san may have more firsthand knowledge of jutsus, but he has no patience for us. Plus, he doesn't have an egotistical side like Sasori." Again, Seishirou thought that there was more to it than just that. Unless he had more information, however, there wasn't much he could use to argue.

"…He still won't have much he can teach us. I know _I_ don't want to be a stupid puppeteer," he said by way of concession.

Tomozou visibly relaxed, and this time, for sure, Seishirou knew that there was more to it. He just didn't know what, or how to get it. The pink-haired boy smiled slyly, and, with glittering eyes, he told them, "_He_ might not know a lot, but his puppets sure do."

"How can puppets--"

"He _must_ have a good understanding of how the jutsu works if he can control it in something like a puppet," he started excitedly. "And--think! All you need to learn something is an example and an explanation, right? Puppet gives the example, and Sasori-sensei gives the explanation. There we go! Instant ninjutsu lesson."

"…That still only covers ninjutsu. What about taijutsu and genjutsu?"

"Greedy, aren't we?" Tomozou asked, but he looked a bit crestfallen all the same. Even he knew that puppets wouldn't know much of either kind of jutsu.

"Father is a taijutsu expert." Hitomi spoke up for the first time in awhile. "He only knows two different styles and then basic taijutsu, but… He still knows them."

"Oh yeah, he does, doesn't he?" Seishirou nodded to himself, half pleased at Hitomi with remembering that, and half disappointed because it strengthened Tomozou's argument. "But… The _Juuken_ style is only effective if you have the Byakugan."

"It still has a good series of blocks and teaches how to restrain your movements to stop from being wasteful," she replied matter-of-factly. Seishirou had never known his sister liked the taijutsu style that much; he'd always thought that she only learned it to get an early edge on her friends.

"What's the other style?" Tomozou asked curiously, tilting his head a bit to one side.

"I don't know the exact name, but it's practically the exact opposite of the _Juuken_. He used it a few times on me while sparring…" Seishirou winced at the mere memory. "It uses a lot of legwork and focuses on hard punches and kicks, rather than the softer blows of the _Juuken_. Didn't he learn it from a teammate when he was in a genin team?" Hitomi nodded.

"Then we have ninjutsu and taijutsu covered!" Tomozou exclaimed.

"Wait--I haven't agreed to this yet!" In his explanation, Seishirou had gotten ahead of himself, so he rapidly backpedaled now. "_We_ haven't agreed to this," he amended, gesturing to both himself and his sister.

"I think it is a good idea," she replied placidly. "What will we do about genjutsu? It is important to have a balanced curriculum."

"'Curriculum'? Is this some sort of school?"

"With all of the villages' academies gone, I suppose it could be considered one. Is it not our duty to learn, as young shinobi?" The boys gave her matching blank looks. "…Plus, if we are more knowledgeable, it means we are stronger in combat. And if we are stronger in combat, it means we can kick serious ass."

While Seishirou stared at her in shock--not only for the curse, but for the phrase so casually said--Tomozou burst out laughing. "That was _amazing_, Hitomi-san."

"But it is true!" she exclaimed, a little miffed that she was being laughed at. "If we are dealing with such strong foes, we will need to be stronger than average genin--"

"You're not a genin yet," Seishirou corrected.

"Yet," the black-haired girl repeated thoughtfully. "…Regardless! We must get stronger to combat the Bijuu. Even after we rescue mother and the others, the demons will not simply disappear. At best, I would say that two at most would be destroyed in the rescue attempt." Hitomi took on a determined expression, making her little hands into little fists.

"She has a point," Tomozou agreed blandly. "We definitely can't count on the adults for this, either. _They're_ the targets, anyway."

"So you're saying _we_ have to protect _them_?" Seishirou said flatly with a matching flat look. "They are still stronger than us at this time, you know."

"That's why we're going to go start begging for lessons, right?" Tomozou stood up, planting his fists on his hips triumphantly. He grinned down at them. "First up is ninjutsu, and we need to go get Sasori-sensei to teach us."

"Father will teach us taijutsu as well." Hitomi got to her feet as well, and Seishirou didn't miss the shy, adoring look she shot Tomozou. He obviously wouldn't be winning this battle, so he stood up, too, and gave in.

"…Mother used to be a genjutsu expert when she was in active service."

"Oh, yes, I remember that now," Hitomi acknowledged. "…So that part will have to wait until after we have rescued her."

"I think ninjutsu and taijutsu will tie us up for awhile. We probably wouldn't have time to learn all three simultaneously, anyway." Tomozou nodded to himself. Then, with a wink, he said, "Well, ready to go con some adults into teaching us?"

-.-.-

The Kazekage looked down at his desk. Or rather, his face and eyes just happened to be directed downward; he was still in too much of a daze to do something such as looking. Ai was dead, and the Akatsuki were back, hunting the Bijuu again. He was old enough to remember the days before the war quite vividly, and he knew that no good would come of any affairs with the demons, even if it was presumably to corral them once more.

All he knew was that it brought trouble to his village.

Ai, Hanamura, and two chuunin guards were dead because of the Akatsuki and their 'questioning'. He was still walking with a severe limp. They got their information, so presumably they'd be on their way out of the country, but the Kazekage was not a naïve man. Nor was he particularly forgiving. He knew that the Akatsuki would only bring more strife in the long run if they did anything more with the Bijuu.

Revenge, too, was a factor in it; that much was clear in his mind. They had mercilessly slaughtered Ai. His eldest daughter… She had barely been eighteen. The beginning of her adulthood, and she was cut down.

"…They cannot get away with this. They cannot incite another Bijuu war. They cannot get away with this," he mumbled, pulling at his graying hair. Suddenly, though, the man's head snapped up. "Yoji!" he barked.

Immediately, the door opened and a younger man came in. He saluted and stood awkwardly at attention. "Yes, Kazekage-sama?"

"Go gather squads 2 and 6--meet me at the village gate in an hour. We're hunting down those Akatsuki. It's about time someone made them pay for what they've done to this world."

-.-.-

Next Chapter: The children start nagging, pleading, begging, whining, and threatening for ninjutsu training. After many failures, Hitomi shocks everyone by being the first to succeed. The Suna-nin attack, too, and Sasori benefits unexpectedly from it. After all is said and done, though, there's only one thing left to do: go on to Ame.


	19. Moving On

Disclaimer: Wow, original characters… I own them all! Save one minor little character, who was borrowed from a magnificent fan fiction. …Without permission. (please don't hurt me; I make no profit from this)

-.-.-

"…Yeah, this is her."

"At least it looks like they went out quickly."

"Yeah…"

The group found the bodies of Ai and Kinshirou just an hour out of the gates. The corpses were hardly recognizable, and for the most part, also naked. Their supplies had been ransacked and much of it stolen, too. "Kazekage-sama isn't going to like this."

"We already knew they were dead. He won't like it if we don't get even; that's what'll make him mad," said the leader.

There were nine shinobi in the retaliation force. The four of squad two and the four of squad six, commanded by an old jounin named Kinpachi. He had been in the last two great wars, and seemed infinitely knowledgeable about the ways of ninja, be it Suna-nin or other. The rest of the group--most of them too young to have participated in the last war, let alone the one before that--were awed, and a bit intimidated, by him.

"They would have headed north out of the desert, wouldn't they? It's the shortest route to the nearest river," one of the younger chuunin said.

"Don't be stupid," admonished another. She continued, pointing a bit to her right, "They have enough water to last them for a longer trek, if they stocked up here. They won't be heading straight north. They'll be heading northeast."

"Why?"

"Because they're heading to Ame," Kinpachi said. His voice was unnervingly cool and calculated, and the chuunin who'd asked flinched back a bit. The kunoichi who had spoken before nodded solemnly in agreement. Kinpachi regarded her for a moment before speaking again. "If they are any sort of good shinobi--and we know they are--they wouldn't be so stupid as to head into Iwa. They only came here to look for the Bijuu, correct, am I not? Then why, if they're combing the land for those demons, would they back themselves into a corner with Iwa?" Several members of the group nodded with a dawning realization.

"Wh-What if they've already gone through Ame and are cornering the _Bijuu_ in Iwa? Y-Y'know, like some sort of net…"

"Don't be foolish," the kunoichi scoffed. "Not even the Akatsuki would be that dumb. They don't want to pursue and corner--they want to ambush on their own terms. Besides, any _good_ ninja knows that a cornered enemy gets frightened and desperate. Would _you_ want to fight a desperate demon?"

"Haya-san, no need for such hostility. He was just asking a question," Kinpachi said coldly. The woman blushed furiously in embarrassment at being called out like that. The leader sighed. He hadn't wanted her on this mission, but because of her bloodline limit, she _had_ to come. Sunagakure only had three bloodlines left, and Haya was the only remaining member of her clan alive to use hers. But because of her power, and the respect that power gave her, she was arrogant and proud. Kinpachi didn't want to deal with clashing egos on this mission; the enemies would be bad enough.

"…They can't be that far ahead of us," someone else said, breaking up the awkward situation. Haya nodded, eager to change the subject. Kinpachi sighed again.

"Let's go now. Someone else can pick up the bodies later."

-.-.-

"Hey, Sasori-sensei! I have a question!"

"Is it sensei again already?"

"Forgiveness comes quick with children."

"No, they just want to leech techniques off me again."

"Don't ignore me!"

"Would I do a thing like that?"

The kids were not making much headway in their quest for knowledge. Each time any of them approached Sasori, he, or one of the other two men, would deflect them just like that. At least he wasn't outright ignoring them though. …Yet.

Tomozou, defeated yet again, fell back into his group. The children were trailing behind the three adults, talking in low tones amongst themselves. "That went well," Seishirou said mildly, hiding a smirk.

"Your try didn't go much better," Tomozou snapped in reply. "…Why doesn't Hitomi-san try again? At least then Neji-san leaves the conversation alone."

"It is Seishirou's turn this time," she answered.

"Hm. …Why don't we have a rearguard? I feel kind of out in the open like this." Tomozou glanced over his shoulder, faking a nervous laugh. It was obvious where he was going with this, so the other two stayed silent. He jogged up to be among the men once more, asking politely, "Why don't we have a rearguard?"

"The Byakugan makes it unnecessary." He got a reply, but it didn't let him easily start a conversation. He didn't know enough about it, either, to ask any more questions.

"What if someone is fast enough to get us anyway? I feel like bait back there."

"Then walk ahead of us."

Tomozou scowled, racking his brain for anything else. He was like his mother in the fact that he'd flatter and beg shamelessly to get what he wanted, but these three seemed absolutely impervious to such techniques. How else could he get information, though? His mother acted flirty, his father threatened (which would also be useless here), and Sasuke would always just use his Sharingan. He didn't know any other ways to get what he wanted.

Once again, he fell back into step with Seishirou and Hitomi. "…What now?" Seishirou asked, brushing his hair out of his eyes. Tomozou glanced at him. Sasori seemed to give away information in two situations. The first was when it benefited him, whether directly or for his amusement. Right now, they couldn't work at that angle.

He also gave away information when he was shown that someone else knew something he didn't think they knew. _Wait, did that make sense?_ Tomozou asked himself, scrunching up his nose. _Well, it's true… Once he figured out that I knew Seishirou was connected to the Akatsuki, he and Kakuzu-san confirmed it_.

While he was lost in thought, Hitomi took her own initiative and trotted up to the group of adults once more. She tugged shyly on Sasori's sleeve, batting her doe eyes when he turned to look at her. "May I see your puppet once more?"

"Which one?" Sasori asked, clearly humoring her.

"The handsome one with the white hair."

"Handsome?!" Seishirou hissed, taken aback.

Tomozou, however, could only commend her on her genius. "Shut up. If Sasori will take it out--then we only need to ask him to show us what it's used for!"

"Is she referring to the one I'm thinking of?" Neji asked, raising both eyebrows.

"I believe so." Sasori looked up at her father for a moment, as if asking permission. After that moment, however, he just took out a scroll from somewhere in his sleeve, and as they stopped, he unfurled it.

"Thank you," Hitomi said politely when the white-haired puppet appeared. She let go of her idol's sleeve and inspected it. "…What is his name?"

"I just call him annoying," the redhead replied with a wry smirk.

"His name is--was Kakashi," Neji said sharply, shooting him a glare.

"Is he an offensive or defensive puppet?" she asked, circling it. By then, the boys had also caught up and began to examine the puppet. It certainly was a weird looking puppet, that was for sure. White hair, face mask, plain (if frayed) jounin uniform, and mismatched eyes.

"Primarily offensive," Sasori replied. Now even he seemed entertained with the thought of explaining his art to them. Tomozou was just thinking he could use that to their advantage when he saw Kakashi's eyes for the first time.

"…Hey." He didn't know who he was speaking to. He stood on his tiptoes and leaned up closer, narrowing his cyan eyes as he looked at the red one. It looked like the Sharingan, but only Sasuke had that--only Uchiha had that. This man obviously wasn't an Uchiha, however, and there was a faint scar running down over that side of the face. Why did a puppet have a scar, anyway? And--hadn't this one used ninjutsu earlier? "…What kind of puppets do you _have_?"

"They were once humans."

"Kakashi must have been a Konoha shinobi," Hitomi said placidly, returning to Sasori's side to let the boys inspect him. "Is that right?"

"Yes. How did you know?"

"He looks just like the Copy-nin." Tomozou noticed that both Neji and Sasori stiffened slightly. Hitomi seemed unaware of this, though.

"…Who's the Copy-nin?" he asked, partly because he really didn't know, and partly to get another reaction.

"A famous Konoha-nin. He died during the last war, though," Seishirou replied, looking over the puppet with a new eye. "…Now that you mention it, the hair and uniform are the same."

"He is the Copy-nin," Sasori said after a long silence. Hitomi looked up at him wonderingly, probably placing him on an even higher pedestal in her mind.

"You have had a very full life."

"What is that supposed to mean?" The seriousness was gone again, and now he sounded vaguely amused by her remark.

"Well," Hitomi said shyly, reaching up to hold his hand with both of hers, "You have been in the Akatsuki for several years. You were in this last war, and perhaps the one prior. You seem to know so many people, and you have many puppets, and if they are all created from ninja, you must have fought many of them, too. You have also had at least two partners in the Akatsuki, and you seem to have extensive knowledge of many things. Have you ever been married?" The suddenness of the last question made Kakuzu choke back a laugh. Neji stared at his daughter, mouth slightly open, white eyes wide. It struck Tomozou that he might now just be finding out about her slightly creepy affection for Sasori.

"…No, I have not," Sasori said haltingly, trying to detach her from his hand. It was no use.

"Then you still need to do that," Hitomi said cheerfully, beaming at him. It was pretty obvious where she was sending this conversation. Kakuzu, meanwhile, had both hands clamped over his mouth trying to stop from cracking up.

"No, I'd rather not."

"Hitomi, Sasori really isn't the family type of man," Neji said, looking slightly pained.

"O-Oh? I think he'd be a wonderful mother," Kakuzu finally said. Sasori turned and gave him a glare that could peel paint. "He looks after Deidara, doesn't he? I've heard the blonde call him a 'mother hen' more than once, too."

"Sasori's motherly?" Tomozou peeked around the Copy-nin puppet, just having heard that last part.

"That would be wonderful," Hitomi sighed happily.

"I am _not_ motherly!" Sasori glared at Kakuzu so hard it was amazing he didn't burst into flames. It did, however, make it clear that there would be retribution later on. "And as for you--" He cut himself off and hauled Hitomi into the air by the back of her shirt with his other hand. She clung on to him, however, so it made for a pretty bizarre sight. "Let go of me. Right now."

"No. I do not wish to let go." She wrapped her arms around his tighter, if such a thing was possible.

"Hitomi, you need to let go now." Neji spoke on Sasori's behalf, but at this point, even he wasn't too keen on getting involved in the one-sided lover's spat.

"Not until Sasori agrees to marry me," she exclaimed, burying her face in his sleeve. Sasori looked as if someone had just stabbed him through the heart. Kakuzu was now losing a battle against his laughter.

"She's better than Hidan!" he crowed, biting his lip to stop himself from cackling. "An-And Tobi! Combined! Sasori, are you going to wear a dress again for the wedding?"

"Again?" Tomozou brightened considerably; if they couldn't flatter Sasori into training them, at this rate they could blackmail him.

Sasori could have undoubtedly detached Hitomi by violent means, but he seemed uncomfortably aware that Neji was standing right behind him. Even if he was an Akatsuki-nin, he couldn't dodge an attack from that range.

"What will Deidara say, Sasori?" Kakuzu asked through his snickering. "I'll tell him you're _cheating_ on him--"

"Hitomi, get _off_ of me!" the redhead commanded, though he was nearly pleading with her. She shook her head and clung tighter. "I am not going to marry you."

"Why not?" she asked pitifully, voice muffled by the fabric of his sleeve.

Once again, Sasori was aware of Neji's presence behind him, so he couldn't say the first thing that came to mind. In fact, he had to be downright delicate about it if he didn't want the little girl crying to daddy and daddy trying to kill him.

"Didn't you say you thought the Copy-nin puppet was handsome?"

"He's spoken for," Neji said flatly.

"My point being--you think most things male are handsome or worth your attention. They're not. I'm not. You should move on, and go chase after someone closer to your own age."

"You are more handsome than he is," she said firmly. Her face was still pressed into his sleeve, so it was hard to tell, but she sounded close to crying.

"I'm also old enough to be your father." Neji cleared his throat behind him. "Your grandfather," Sasori amended.

"You do not look like it. Why do you not like me?"

"It's not that--" Sasori paused to grimace; this looked to be a painful experience for him, "--but we're not compatible. This is nothing but a silly little crush."

"No it is not!" Hitomi whimpered.

The redhead sighed wearily. "What do I have to _do_ to prove that I'm not worth your attention?" he asked in exasperation, though the sarcasm was also hard to miss.

Hitomi said something more, but it was muffled by his sleeve. When asked to repeat herself, she took her face away from the fabric and stared up at him, eyes shining with unshed tears. "As long as you stay my Sasori and nothing else and do not change--I will always adore you." At least she hadn't used the word 'love'. "Just do not change--"

"Change," Sasori repeated flatly. He suddenly looked a lot less desperate.

"Yes. If you were to become our ninjutsu teacher, for instance, of course I could not be as openly affectionate towards you, for such teacher-student relationships are frowned upon," she said seriously.

"…" Sasori hung his head, either shocked or ashamed that he had managed to let it get this far without catching on. Tomozou couldn't blame him; he'd thought she was serious up until that point. "…That is true," he said finally.

"So--either we will be married or you will teach us."

"I'll teach you ninjutsu." His voice was still flat, still defeated. By a nine-year-old girl, nonetheless.

Hitomi relinquished Sasori's arm, beaming.

Kakuzu, taking deep breaths to stop his laughter, remarked, "I take it back. She is better than goddamn _Deidara_ at getting you to do what she wants."

"I want to learn the electric jutsu from his puppet first, Sasori-sensei!" Seishirou exclaimed, pointing at the Kakashi puppet. He had stayed quiet through most of the conversation, and belatedly Tomozou realized that he must have known about Hitomi's plan all along. …Or maybe he'd been too shocked to say anything.

"_Chidori_?" asked Neji dubiously. It probably didn't sound like a very safe jutsu to teach a kid. Sasori, on the other hand, shrugged noncommittally. He didn't seem to have a problem with it, which was all the permission the children needed.

Then, all of a sudden, Neji shouted, "Duck!" The three kids hit the sand immediately; their first instinct was to listen. Neji threw himself into some sort of spin, creating a chakra barrier that blocked the first barrage of shuriken. The two Akatsuki members, even as that was happening, displayed their own first instinct to the command: attack. Tomozou peeked up out of the sand just in time to see them both disappear.

He had no time to marvel, however. They were under attack, after all. Laying in the sand would only make them sitting--well, laying--ducks. He scrambled to his feet, reaching back for his sword as he did so. Enemy shinobi were already engaging them, and he tried to count them as he spotted them. One, two, three--no, four--five… They were outnumbered, at any rate.

-.-.-

Like any good Hyuuga, Neji did not keep his Byakugan active constantly. Most people expected him to, but if they really _thought_ about it, the constant strain would probably make him go blind after a few short weeks, not to mention the drain on his chakra.

No, he usually only used the Byakugan those days to fight and to keep an eye on the children (unfortunately, those times seemed to coincide more and more often). As a Hyuuga, he had a very refined sixth sense about enemies. All shinobi had it, to some degree, but his came naturally, like a lot of unexpected gifts with the Byakugan. It was as if his body reacted to 360 degree vision, though it didn't possess it at the time.

It was this that allowed him to sense the enemy shinobi faster than either Sasori or Kakuzu and shout the order that probably saved all three of the kids' lives--not to mention his own neck. Whoever they were fighting, he knew immediately, was skilled enough to sneak up on them. (Never mind the fact that they had been distracted.)

Over the ridge of the nearest, tallest sand dune, three shinobi suddenly appeared. They slid down the side of it as if it were water, already armed. Neji didn't need his Byakugan active to see that they were shadow clones. What he couldn't see, due to all of the movement around him, was where the real body was. Regardless, he ran out to meet the two nearest, dispatching one with a chop to the neck and the second with a kick that pushed it into the third--they were all gone in a matter of moments.

_How many are there?_ he asked himself, scanning the area. At least eight unique chakra signatures, so they were outnumbered. No--they would have been outnumbered anyway, because the children couldn't fight. Not shinobi like these.

Imagine his surprise when he saw Tomozou and Seishirou each fighting off an assailant. Not even fighting off; Tomozou was easily pushing the woman back, and Seishirou seemed to be on equal footing with his foe. When he didn't see Hitomi right away, though, Neji panicked. It was common sense to take out the strongest enemies first, but if said enemy had a weak spot, exploit it. It would be obvious to anyone that they were related.

Then, he spotted her, staying behind the Copy-nin puppet, shakily armed with a kunai. As long as she was hidden, she would probably be safe, but Neji wasn't going to take any chances with his only daughter.

-.-.-

Sasori found himself fighting against a woman with long, black hair and a proud, haughty glare. He instantly didn't like her, and figured it would be an easy fight, since proud shinobi were almost always overestimating their own skills. She surprised him, however mildly, when she dodged past several blows and even managed to graze his cheek with a kunai.

He was really only stalling for time, though. When Neji had shouted "Duck!", he and Kakuzu both instantly spread out to avoid getting surrounded. He had left his only convenient puppet, the Copy-nin, behind (and this woman certainly didn't get the honor of fighting his own body. He considered their current battle only _stalling_). For that small amount of time for her to engage him and exchange strikes, that was how long it took for his chakra strings to find Kakashi once more. Just after her kunai ghosted past his face, he connected with his puppet.

He yanked his arms toward her, intent on pulling the marionette over for a proper battle. She must have took the move for a punch, because she raised her arms in an X to block her face. This was odd, because she'd had plenty of time to duck--but Sasori found out why she did that soon enough.

He had decided to carry through with the movement, although instead of a punch he was going to stab her through the forehead with a jet of water. Sasori reached out and placed his palm against her wrist.

His hand suddenly wasn't there any more.

His muddy brown eyes widened as he reeled back, just as Kakashi skidded onto the scene. His hand, up to the wrist, simply wasn't there any more. He didn't feel any pain, just shock. Sasori's logical mind told him that it would make puppeteering interesting for awhile, since he hadn't fought with one hand for so long. His conscious mind, however, overrode that with a simple _What the hell._

"Hah, wasn't expecting _that_?" the kunoichi said gleefully, grinning as she lowered her arms. Then, Sasori noticed that her skin had an odd sheen to it. She hadn't had it before, and she hadn't made any hand signs.

"What bloodline limit is that?" he asked curiously.

"Wouldn't you like to know." She seemed to notice the lack of blood for the first time. She tilted her head to one side, dropping her arms to her sides.

"Is it your skin itself that's changed, or is it some sort of film on top of the skin?" If it was the skin, it would carry over into a puppet. If it was a film… Well, he had no idea as to that one. Bloodline limits were fickle like that. He would only have to try to find out.

"Come here and I'll show you," she said, having regained her composure. She regained it just in time to have Kakashi sneak around her and stab her through the right lung. As predicted, the sword almost completely melted upon contact, but just enough of it punctured her body for what was intended. As the puppet gripped the blade, it created a _Chidori_.

The result was instant electrocution. The kunoichi gave a silent scream before collapsing. Sasori hoped she wasn't dead; that would be a handy puppet to have. Plus, with the lack of good ninja these days, his collection hadn't grown lately.

-.-.-

Kakuzu was facing off against the presumed leader of this squad of assassins. The man was irritatingly tough. Irritating, because he wasn't really strong enough to pose a _real_ threat, but he wasn't going down very easily, either. He was in that tiny median between the two. He also reminded Kakuzu of Hidan; he just couldn't seem to kill either of them.

"I'm getting really fucking tired of this," Kakuzu groused. He already had to activate his iron skin ability, and the man was just fast enough to repeatedly dodge his physical attacks. It looks like he'd have to switch to ninjutsu. It seemed overkill, especially for a single man, but maybe Kakuzu would luck out and there'd be a bounty on his head.

_Nah, I'm too goddamn ill-fated right now. I wouldn't get that lucky_, he told himself, though only to get his hopes up. He often did that, so he was pleasantly surprised every time he did manage to get a hold of a good bounty. When one was partnered with a man like Hidan, one did what he could to find happiness.

"Then lay down and die," the ninja opposite him replied coldly.

"Not going to happen." Kakuzu mentally felt for the heart with the affinity for fire. It only took a little internal shifting to get it into a position to use it. Now he just had to choose a jutsu to utilize. That was always the toughest part of any battle, really. No one ever withstood more than one attack, so it's not like he got much of a chance to show off.

"What's the holdup, then? You don't seem very lively," the man said, tilting his head back a bit. His steel grey eyes never left Kakuzu's.

He smirked a bit under his mask. "Just wondering how to kill you. But you're really pissing me off, so I think I'll go for something _artistic_."

This particular fire jutsu was very basic in nature, but highly destructive. In fact, it was probably easy enough for a genin to learn, but it was that very danger that prevented any school from ever teaching it. Kakuzu himself only attempted it because he had his iron skin, he really hated the man standing across from him, and he had enough confidence to try to contain it.

He merely ignited the oxygen in the air around them with a spark of chakra.

Everything in a twenty meter radius promptly combusted. The good thing was that it stopped on its own; once the oxygen was gone, the burning would stop, and it wouldn't continue again once air rushed back into the scene.

Kakuzu had been holding his breath, and gratefully sucked in another once the flames vanished. His opponent was nothing more than a charred body (he himself was also slightly charred, but that was only slightly). It seemed that his move also caused a temporarily lull in the battle; everyone had turned to look at him.

"…Kakuzu, you bastard, I heard you call that artistic," Sasori exclaimed at last, breaking the silence.

-.-.-

The fight itself lasted little more than ten minutes. The injuries suffered (on their side, anyway) were minimal: Sasori was still missing his hand, but was otherwise unharmed, Kakuzu had a lot of small burns, and Neji had only taken a couple of kunai to his wrist when blocking an attack.

The kids were completely okay, and like any good ninja children, they let this go to their heads.

"You know, forget the _Chidori_, I wanna learn whatever it was Kakuzu-san used," Tomozou said conversationally, watching as Hitomi tried to bandage her father up. She insisted on playing the medic for some reason.

"Shouldn't you call him sensei then?" Sasori suggested, going along with the idea.

"I don't know. I'd like to learn that _Chidori_ thing. Seems pretty handy," Seishirou said absently, lacing his fingers behind his head. "It's electricity, which means it doesn't have to be a direct hit to affect."

"Most ninjutsu acts the same way," Neji advised, wincing a bit. "Hitomi, I think you're cutting off circulation--"

"I am making a tourniquet," she said seriously.

"Yeah, but still… You could use it with metal, and water, too." Seishirou wasn't going to give up the _Chidori_ that easily, especially since he had seen it used in action once more. "…That reminds me. What are we going to do with _her_?"

Sasori had insisted on taking along the kunoichi he'd electrocuted. The redhead only spared her a look of disinterest. "I am going to turn her into a puppet."

"What's her name?" Seishirou asked.

"I don't know."

"It's Haya. That's what one of the others shouted when you killed her," Tomozou replied with a grin.

"I didn't kill her. She'd be useless if I'd killed her."

"All I know is that _I'm_ not going to be the one to carry her all the way to Ame." Kakuzu crossed his arms over his broad chest. Sasori rolled his eyes.

"I'll take care of Haya-chan."

"Do you always refer to your puppets so affectionately?" Seishirou asked.

"Depends on how well I knew them when they were still alive," replied the Suna-nin ambiguously.

"…I still want to learn the _Chidori_. What other techniques do you know?"

"I don't know all that many."

"How many can you _teach_ us, then?!"

"Quite a few, I'd imagine. I've never been forced into a teaching role before, so I don't know how many of these techniques are teachable, and how many of them I have a sufficient understanding of to relate to another human being." Sasori idly examined his missing hand. The wood and metal were both cleanly cut, not even charred. "Hmm… It must have been some sort of acid or something chemical…" he murmured to himself, peering closely at the missing joint.

"…Holy shit, you lost a hand."

"And, as always, Tomozou-kun comes to the rescue of stating the thing no one wishes to speak of," Neji said flatly, wincing again as his daughter tightened the knot around his wrist even more.

Tomozou ignored the jab. "Why aren't you bleeding?! Hey, what's the wound look like?"

"Is it curiosity at his missing limb or curiosity at his body state that's compelling you to ask?"

"…Both, kind of," he admitted.

"Sasori is not bleeding because he is a puppet," Hitomi explained loudly. Sasori stiffened slightly; no one who had ever found out his secret had ever said it so bluntly. Or so casually.

"_What_?!" Tomozou looked hastily back and forth between the two. "That can't be true. That's a joke, right? Where are his strings? Who's the one controlling him? That can't be true."

"_I'm_ the one controlling me," Sasori said sourly, wrapping his wrist in his sleeve. "Didn't you wonder why I didn't die--or bleed--when you stabbed me through the neck?"

"I thought it was some sort of jutsu… Or maybe you were holding your blood in through sheer force of chakra."

Kakuzu and Neji exchanged a glance. "Is that possible?" the Hyuuga man asked after a beat.

"Not that I know of."

"Can we _do_ something now?" Seishirou asked plaintively, sighing. He'd already known all of this stuff, so he wasn't the one getting a revelation. He just wanted to learn something. Or _do_ something. "That fight today--it only proved that we need to learn. Now."

"I _am_ tired of being useless," Hitomi admitted, finishing up with her father's wound. Then she moved on to Kakuzu, much to his annoyance.

"I can't teach you the signs--if I could even remember them--to you," Sasori pointed out.

"We already know signs! Just name them!" Finally, Seishirou thought there was progress being made.

"Hitomi-chan doesn't know them by name," he said flatly. Hitomi turned scarlet at the added '-chan'.

"We can teach her!"

"Then get to it." Sasori waved his hand dismissively, ignoring them completely as he crouched down to inspect the body of Haya.

"But… That will take a long time," Tomozou realized. "You're stalling!"

"You should have thought of that before."

"Stop bickering, you three," Neji said loudly.

"We're not bickering!" the two boys retorted in unison. Tomozou continued, "Sasori-sensei said he would teach us ninjutsu, and now he isn't. By the time he gets his hand fixed--who _knows_ how long that'll be?!"

"Plus, Hitomi-chan is a _lousy_ student," Seishirou added.

"Am not!" she cried defensively, in the middle of standing on Kakuzu's knee to try to bandage his shoulder.

"She's a perfectionist," her brother corrected. "She won't do anything until she thinks she knows everything perfectly. It took a _long_ time for her to even master the water-walking technique."

"I have a compromise," Kakuzu interrupted, pushing Hitomi gently off of him as he stood up. "_I'll_ teach you all one _single_ jutsu if you shut the hell up about it already."

"Yes!" the three agreed instantly, turning on him as a ray of sunshine. Neji sighed, knowing that it would end badly.

"Nothing too dangerous," he said, giving the Akatsuki member a sharp look.

"Of course not."

"What jutsu are you teaching us?" Tomozou asked eagerly, abandoning his inspection of Haya's body to sidle up to Hitomi and Kakuzu. Even Seishirou had appeared at that time by then, so Kakuzu had three fans crowding around him. Sasori snickered audibly.

"I'm teaching you all a different one," he announced calmly. The effect was instantaneous. Each kid was obviously thinking that it meant they could teach one another the technique, so by him teaching them each a different one, they all would have learned three. Kakuzu smiled a bit cruelly underneath his mask. That was exactly what he had planned.

"_Definitely_ nothing too dangerous," Neji repeated, but now he wasn't so worried. He saw Kakuzu's logic as well, and if it would keep the children busy, then he was fine with it. Instead, now he was working on trying to loosen Hitomi's knot.

"Let's say nothing particularly offensive. Just versatile jutsus. Something for each of you." Kakuzu pretended to think, but he had long ago come up with this little plan for keeping them out of trouble, and had picked out a good jutsu for each of them. "For Tomozou, I think a water jutsu."

"Which one? I already know a few," he responded suspiciously. "It better not be some lameass one that you're going to try pawning off on me."

"In order to use water ninjutsu, though, don't you need water?"

"I already know the condensation jutsu," Tomozou informed him, crossing his arms. "Teach me something better."

"How about how to make it rain?" Once again, just like that, he had Tomozou's full attention. "It takes a fair amount of chakra to start it, but once you do, depending on the climate, it takes off on its own and can continue for quite some time. In addition for that, if you tweak it a bit, you can use it to trigger lightning and use the storm's wind for your own use, too."

"What about me?!" Seishirou burst in, unable to contain his curiosity any longer. If Tomozou got to learn how to make his own weaponry (because really, that's what rain was for a water jutsu specialist), then he definitely wanted to know what he got.

"Hm. I'm thinking origami."

Seishirou was not amused. "I'm serious."

"So am I."

Tomozou snickered. "You have fun with that, Sei. What does Hitomi-san get?"

"_Chidori_."

"What?!" Neji, Seishirou, and Tomozou all shouted at the same time, equally outraged.

"Kidding."

"Aw…" Hitomi sighed in defeat, hanging her head.

"For a girl like Hitomi, I'm thinking some sort of genjutsu--"

"No!" she exclaimed, narrowing her eyes. Kakuzu blinked at the outburst. "We are learning genjutsu from mother. We are learning ninjutsu now."

"Okay…" He wasn't the only adult present who was surprised with the foresight they'd had to plan that out. "…Who's the taijutsu teacher?"

"Neji-sensei," Tomozou replied. "What's Hitomi-san learning?"

"Just teach her something harmless and get on with it," Sasori called dryly.

"I do not want a harmless jutsu! It will have to be powerful for me to combat the Bijuu," Hitomi said simply, as if stating the obvious.

"You're not fighting the Bijuu," Neji replied sternly. "None of you are. You're only learning this because kids need to learn, and you might have to protect yourselves one day."

"Can you even use your chakra yet?" Kakuzu asked, poking the top of her head. Hitomi squeaked in indignation. He had messed up her hair, so she furiously set about trying to fix it.

"O-Of course I can use my chakra! I am not so incompetent--"

"We're not calling you incompetent, we're just wondering what kind of ninjutsu a nine-year-old girl needs to know," Seishirou said calmingly, "…But I want to learn something better than origami."

"Origami is both offensive and defensive, though. It's extremely useful."

"It's _origami_."

"A member of the Akatsuki relied almost exclusively on origami and she was strong enough to be the leader's partner," Sasori commented quietly. Seishirou decided to try his hand at origami after that.

Tomozou, however, heard that and his face went perfectly blank.

-.-.-

_Seishirou… He's the son of the leader of the Akatsuki. And his mother… Shit, I never even asked! His _partner_ was female! That's why Kakuzu said that about his mother…_ Tomozou cast a new eye on Seishirou. So he was the son of _two_ Akatsuki members. Then… Then what? He didn't know. Knowledge was useful, only if it could be used--and he couldn't tell Seishirou about this. He promised, and anyway, it was nice to have a secret or two of his own.

_So he's going to teach him origami jutsus because his mother knew it?_ What if Seishirou wasn't good at it? Were they merely hoping that he'd be proficient at it because of his genes? Slowly, Tomozou's face relaxed into a smirk. _So Seishirou is the son of two Akatsuki-nin. Maybe that's why Sasori hasn't killed us yet._

"What jutsu do I get to learn?" Hitomi asked, staring up at Kakuzu pleadingly. Because of the height difference, it meant that her head was craned back as far as it would go; she looked even shorter, looking up at him like that.

"Is it really the best for you to be wasting your chakra on practice? Don't forget, your body needs a certain amount of chakra to support your spine," Sasori broke in. "It would probably be for the best if you sat this one out and practiced the techniques you already know, or--"

"I know, but I wish to learn something new, too!" she said with a vicious pout. Tomozou felt sorry for her, although he didn't get it. What was with that bit about her spine?

"What if you exhaust your chakra? You still don't know what will happen in that scenario."

"But--"

"Do you _want_ to snap your spine again?" Sasori asked, voice deathly quiet. Hitomi went stark white, recoiling slightly.

Tomozou gaped. _Again_? When was the first time? Hitomi seemed like a perfectly fine little girl, with no back problems whatsoever.

Neji spoke up at that point, before Tomozou could ask. "Sasori, how did you attach this to her chakra system exactly? You're speaking as if it's entirely dependent on it."

"I'm not exactly sure. _You're_ the one with the Byakugan, not me. I was more worried about the nerve endings and blood vessels than her chakra." The redhead shrugged, unperturbed. "I just assume that it's reliant on her chakra to remain flexible and in one piece. Vertebrae are very delicate, and come apart quite easily--"

"You _assume_?" Neji was very clearly getting into 'angry father' mode. Hitomi looked back and forth between the two, still pale, but at least not quite as much now. She fretfully pulled at the bottom hem of her shirt and bit her bottom lip, continuously turning her head back and forth between her father and her idol (or fiancé, since it was hard to know where exactly she placed Sasori in her mind after that).

"…C'mon, guys. Let's just get to Ame already. We can examine Hitomi-san there, and then we'll know how her chakra works," Tomozou interrupted.

"You're only going to worry us all at this rate. We can wait until Ame to learn these techniques so Hitomi-chan doesn't fall behind," Seishirou added.

Hitomi turned to the boys, seeming surprised at their loyalty. Surprised and touched. Kakuzu was less so. He just shrugged, and remarked, "I wasn't going to teach you anything until Ame, anyway. Unless you have a whole hell of a lot of paper. And even _I_ wouldn't try making a rainstorm in the desert."

That reduced the boys' sacrifice significantly, but Hitomi didn't seem to mind. She left Kakuzu's side and stood between them once more, reaching out to hold Seishirou's hand. She smiled warmly at him. "Thank you."

"Yeah, well, if my baby sister is having problems, I'm not going to leave her behind, am I?" Seishirou rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly with his free hand. Tomozou laughed at his embarrassment.

"Um, thank you, too," Hitomi added shyly, color returning to her face in the form of a blush.

"Hey, no problem. We're just gonna have to stick together, you know? All for one type of deal. L-Like Sei said, we can't leave the only girl behind; that'd be mean."

"And you're _never_ mean," Seishirou, over his embarrassment, said snidely, much to Tomozou's embarrassment. Hitomi just giggled, though.

"Can we move on to Ame now?" Kakuzu asked, watching them with disdain at the affection.

"Let's go," Neji replied, shifting his bag to the other shoulder.

-.-.-

**End of Arc Three: Tomozou**

-.-.-

Next Chapter: Into Ame! Hitomi and Seishirou adjust to the climate, whereas Tomozou is overjoyed at the constant rain and humidity. But--what's this? Ame-nin ambush the group! What are their intentions... and why are they so eager to get back to Amegakure before sundown?


	20. Welcome to Amegakure!

**Arc Four: Ame**

-.-.-

Over the course of the next few days, the group made their way into the Land of Rain. Unlike in previous years, the entire land wasn't experiencing rain. It was still a common thing, and the humidity was unnaturally high, but it just wasn't _raining_. This set both Akatsuki-nin on edge, as they had always dealt with the constant rain as a sort of comfort.

Once out of the desert, however, Tomozou immediately perked up. He was no longer the one plodding behind, taking in large amounts of water only to sweat it back out--he was up ahead, bounding from large, wet tree, to large, wet lake, to large, wet rock. Now it was Hitomi and Seishirou who fell to the back, unaccustomed to the humidity or heat. Well, they _were_ familiar with wet things (they had grown up in Kirigakure, after all), but not the combination of hot and wet. It was tiring them out quickly.

On their second day in the country, it began raining. Kakuzu and Sasori both looked up; they knew what Pein's rain had meant. True, _real_ rain was just as common, but after years of dealing with his kind, they were cautious.

"…I'm going to go scout the area," Kakuzu said, slowly standing up.

"Don't go too far," Sasori advised as he disappeared into the rainy forest. The puppeteer sighed at his ignored warning, and reclined back against the nearest tree trunk. Across from him, Hitomi was all but unconscious, sniffling miserably as she leaned against Seishirou's shoulder. The ginger-haired genin wasn't in a much better state. Neji was sitting on the rock behind them protectively, Byakugan casually active as he surveyed the area.

Tomozou, meanwhile, was climbing one of the trees, jumping from branch to branch, trying to catch a bird. He, at least, seemed at home in the humidity and rain.

"…We're getting closer to Amegakure, aren't we?" Neji asked, tilting his chin back as he shook water out of his hair.

"I'd say two days away. Three if we continue at _this_ pace," Tomozou called down, though the brunette man had addressed Sasori.

"Oh, shut the hell up, Tomozou. This is like the desert for us. We can't keep up," Seishirou shouted back, wringing water out of his ponytail.

"In the desert, you weren't doing much better," Tomozou replied with a grin, vanishing into the trees once more.

"When will we stop for the day?" Hitomi asked faintly, closing her eyes as she rested against her brother.

"In an hour or two, most likely."

"Mm, good…"

So the days passed. Seishirou and Hitomi gradually got more acclimated to the wetness and the rain didn't let up. This put the two Akatsuki members even more on edge, but Neji just repeatedly told them that since they were heading into the heart of the country, it was only likely that it'd rain more. Kakuzu was now almost always out on scouting, and Sasori probably didn't join him only because he didn't deal well with the rain either.

"This body is going to rot," he growled darkly, narrowing his eyes at the body of the kunoichi. He'd seal her in a scroll, but it undoubtedly would kill her, and he didn't have time to make a new one which would keep her alive. It was difficult lugging her around, too, as well as keeping her alive. Sasori seriously debated about killing her and dumping the body, but then he would look down at his missing hand, and decide that it was worth it.

On these occasions, he usually kicked her once or twice in the stomach. It didn't hurt her, but it made him feel better.

They were on one of their many breaks. Neji and Kakuzu were both off scouting this time, so Sasori was left babysitting--_again_. The only upside to that scenario was that none of the kids were sick anymore, just tired, so they weren't running around shouting and playing. Not that they did that much, anyway, but Sasori was thankful nonetheless.

"We should be there sometime soon. Maybe tonight." Tomozou happily chattered away, sharing hazy memories he had of the village, and the few people he remembered. "There were a lot of renegades, and refugees, from other villages, so there's all sorts of people there. I remember there was this really cute girl, too…" He didn't notice how Hitomi frowned. "I'm pretty sure there's at least a couple people from every village in the world."

"Even Kiri?"

"Yeah, plenty from Kiri."

"What about the destroyed villages?"

"Well, I was too young to know about any of them at the time, but probably. There were some Ame-nin, so why wouldn't there be Suna-nin and Iwa-nin and Konoha-nin?"

"What do they all wear for hitai-ates?"

"I don't know. I can't remember something like that. Hey…" Tomozou leaned in, peering at them both for a moment. "Why don't either of _you_ have a headband, come to think of it. Why don't you?"

"I am not a genin--you only receive one when you are promoted to genin," Hitomi explained.

"And I forgot mine in Kiri…" Seishirou mumbled.

"Liar, I _know_ you have one. I've seen it. Hitomi carries it in her pack."

"That… That was Ryo's," he said flatly, giving Tomozou the tiniest hint of a glare.

"That name sounds familiar." Tomozou didn't get hints easily.

"He was a teammate of Seishirou's."

"Oh, yeah. …So he's dead now?" Tomozou didn't get an answer, on account of the fact that both Seishirou and Hitomi were hanging their heads, depressed again. Tomozou hastily backpedaled. "H-Hey! I didn't mean--you can't be sad about him forever, right? Everyone dies."

Sasori listened in, wondering how the kids would try to navigate through the minefield of talking of dead comrades. Something interrupted his eavesdropping, however: he sensed someone approaching. Several people. It wasn't Kakuzu or Neji, then; they had been together long enough to get used to each other coming and going.

Sasori got to his feet, leaving the body of Haya at his feet. He faked a stretch, but he really only wanted to get into a position so he could hear better. There were no other sounds, save the rain and the children's conversation. So these people weren't amateurs; they had to be Ame-nin. "…I'm gonna go track down Kakuzu and get him to get his ass back here. It's about time we got going again," he muttered, as if not caring whether or not the children heard him. He walked casually into the surrounding undergrowth. It appeared that they hadn't even noticed that he left.

Sasori pretended to walk off, and then doubled back and hunkered down in a hollowed out dead tree, half rotten, to watch to see if the Ame-nin would take the bait.

-.-.-

"Well… Just wait, guys! Once we get into the village, we'll start learning that ninjutsu, and we'll find information about the Bijuu and then we'll go rescue our parents! Simple as that!" Tomozou was still trying in vain to cheer them up. He had just asked an innocent question, after all! He made a mental note to never, ever mention Ryo again, though.

"Yeah," Seishirou replied noncommittally. Hitomi only nodded.

Tomozou sighed, running a gloved hand through his wet hair. "Just--cheer up--"

Then, with a jolt, he realized they were alone. He only realized this because three people were suddenly there in the clearing with them, and those three were certainly not the men he was accustomed to seeing.

All three of them were wearing long, shapeless, drab grey cloaks, and white animal masks. If Tomozou had a bit more knowledge of the pre-war era, he might have recognized them as ANBU masks, minus the white markings, but since he didn't, he only thought them bizarre. The only distinguishing feature among the three aside from height was that one of them had a hitai-ate tied around his (or her) neck.

"…Who are you three supposed to be? There's no more ANBU," Seishirou said disdainfully, looking for all the world like he was not worried one bit. But because of their proximity, Tomozou could see his hands shaking.

"We are not ANBU," said the one in the middle, with the headband. He revealed himself to be male.

"Then you are only impersonating them to hide your identities," Hitomi said with a nod. To their surprise, the man in the middle nodded his agreement.

"Where did your guardian go?" the one on the right, a female, asked.

"That lazy asshole of a babysitter? Who knows." Tomozou shrugged, trying and failing to grin. He knew the situation wasn't good. If these three would openly approach them, it meant they were confident in their abilities. With three-on-three, they would probably lose. If it was one or even two, he wouldn't have backed down, but not with the odds where they stood.

"He's behind us, about twenty degrees to the left, and he didn't even bother concealing himself thoroughly," the man in the middle drawled, shifting into a more relaxed stance. "So you can come out now, Sasori-san."

"He was only using the children as bait to get _us_ to come out," the kunoichi on the right growled, stamping her foot. Tomozou noticed Seishirou suddenly bristling, and instinctively edged away from him before he really registered it.

"Sensei, you bastard! We're not bait--!"

"Hitomi-chan said I could use you as bait to accomplish my own means." Sasori stepped out of the foliage directly behind the three masked ninja, shaking his sleeve loosely around his missing hand.

His words, however, even irked Tomozou. "What do you mean--you _actually_ used us as bait?! What if they had just jumped in and killed us?"

"Are you saying you would be so easily killed?" Sasori retorted calmly.

"You aren't allowed to use us as bait!" Seishirou snarled, jumping to his feet. Tomozou leapt up beside him, sword already held out in front of him.

"I really do not mind it," Hitomi said, staying firmly on the rock.

"…This is getting really bothersome," the man in the middle said, rubbing the back of his head. "Can we just sort this out and get on with it already?"

"Get on with what?" Sasori inquired, turning his attention to him. "Do you believe you can take me in a fight? That's even neglecting the children."

"Oh, come _on_, Sasori-san." For the first time, the third shinobi spoke up, revealing his gender as male as well. He, too, knew who Sasori was. Tomozou just knew that it couldn't be a good thing. The masked shinobi turned a little until he was facing the redhead. "You know we're not going to fight you. Would we be Ame-nin if we did?"

"I've had several Ame-nin fight me in the past…" Sasori trailed off with a narrowing of his eyes; his attention was pointedly on that sole shinobi.

"Oh, yeah. That's beside the point now." He waved his hand in the air, shaking his head. "You wouldn't have risked them if you thought there would be a fight."

"Maybe I would have. I'm not particularly fond of any of them."

"That is not true!" Hitomi said with a huff, pouting in Sasori's direction.

There was a chuckle from the man on the left. The man in the middle, however, sighed. "I'd like to get back inside sometime soon, you know."

"Plus, the sun is setting," the kunoichi said nervously. Tomozou didn't know what that had to do with anything; couldn't they see in the dark? If they couldn't… Well, they weren't very good ninja, then.

"Fine, fine," the third conceded, "Let's get back to Ame. Coming, Sasori-san? Or will you have to go get Deidara-senpai first?"

Quick as lightning, Sasori reached over and pulled the wolf mask off of the man's face. As his back was to them, Tomozou didn't immediately see him, though the diction was familiar… "I knew it. It _was_ you, Daisuke," Sasori said, although he didn't seem pleased about this fact.

"Dai-sama?!" Equally fast, Tomozou was already running to meet the leader.

"Sunset," the kunoichi repeated worriedly as Tomozou eagerly grinned and fretted over the black-haired man.

"She's right. We better get going. I don't think anyone would be pleased if the children didn't make it back to the village in one piece," the man in the middle added flatly.

"Why wouldn't we make it in one piece?" Tomozou asked over his shoulder, caught between turning to face this stranger--in hopes that it would be another vaguely familiar face--and tugging on Daisuke's sleeve. "Dai-sama, we have Sasori-sensei on our side; nothing would kill us after sunset."

"While I would _love_ to test that theory," Daisuke replied kindly, "I would not love to test it while I was also out in the open. We need to get back to the village."

As the group turned to go, the three Ame-nin stiffened in surprise to see Kakuzu and Neji, casually blocking the path. None of them had sensed their arrival, much to their embarrassment.

-.-.-

Seishirou's first impression of Ikari Daisuke was a mixed one. On one hand, he verbally abused and annoyed Sasori to no end, apparently by his mere presence. On the other, he was still wary of him as an enemy, and his joking made him seem a bit immature. The genin wasn't fond of immature leaders, after all. The Mizukage had been grave and solemn, and his sensei had been slightly more caring, but just as serious. It seemed like some sort of blasphemy to have a man like Daisuke in charge of an entire village.

Hitomi, however, thought otherwise.

"You have pretty eyes," was the first thing she directly said to him. All three--Seishirou, Tomozou _and_ Sasori--mentally (and literally, in Seishirou's case) groaned. She just couldn't keep to herself.

"Thank you," Daisuke said with a chuckle. "You do, too, Hitomi-chan."

"I like your mask," she added shyly.

"Hitomi," Neji said warningly, ready to intervene. She frowned, but quieted. Daisuke had to cover his mouth to hide his smirk.

"He is nowhere near as handsome as Sasori," she muttered, loud enough to be heard by all. There were several hastily stifled giggles.

"_Really_ now," Daisuke replied, trying to figure out whether to be insulted or amused. He must have settled on the latter, because a moment after, he said, "Why is Sasori so great?"

"He does not have long hair, like you do, and his hair is red." Daisuke's was pitch black and tied back in a ponytail at the nape of his neck. "He also looks much younger."

"Hitomi-chan, thank you for that," Sasori said with a grin at Daisuke's expression. He looked like he'd been slapped across the face. Seishirou grimaced; should a leader really be worried about what a little foreign girl's opinion?

_What's so bad about sunset?_ Seishirou asked himself for the umpteenth time. He had been trying in vain to ignore his sister's conversation the entire time--he didn't need to know what her thoughts on men were--and concentrated instead on that question. What _was_ wrong with sunset? All shinobi had night vision to a certain extent, and they weren't fighting, unless there was some nocturnal creature native to Ame. In that case, why were they so scared of it? And why hadn't their group encountered the animal before? They'd already spent three nights in Ame, and nothing had attacked them. _…What's so bad about sunset?_

The village gates soon came into sight. Seishirou wasn't surprised to see a wall surrounding the village--it seemed like a throwback to a time when they were needed; when enemy shinobi were more of a threat than demons--but he was surprised to see the size of the village. It was no Kirigakure, of course, but it was still very large. The architecture, though, was what _really_ threw him.

Kirigakure had had nice, structured houses and streets; there was a method to it. The only method this village might've had was a mad one. Aside from a few main streets, the rest of the roads were narrow and muddy. Houses and buildings were crowded together, and though it was rapidly becoming dusk, it seemed as if no lights were on.

Then, as they started getting into the village, Seishirou noticed something else which put him on edge. The lights were on; the windows were blacked out. Was this all just for protection against the Bijuu? Making sure that they wouldn't be seen at night?

"All of this is… a bit much, isn't it?" Seishirou heard his father ask Daisuke. He turned in time to catch Daisuke shake his head.

"I'll explain once we're inside."

"It'll be too late to arrange other rooms tonight; they can stay at the tower, can't they?" the kunoichi asked.

"Why don't you two take off your masks?" Daisuke asked in return, noticing that his cohorts were still concealing their identities. "Come on, be nice. Introduce yourselves."

"No thanks, not right now," the other man said in reply, reaching up to tap his deer mask. "We're still nice and dry right now. Maybe when we're inside we'll be nice."

"We have towels. You _can_ dry yourself off. I bet if you asked nicely, Ino-chan would dry your hair for you."

"I'd rather avoid getting soaked altogether."

"…I thought it was you," Neji said, smiling faintly at the masked man. The only response he received was a bob of the head.

"What's so bad about sunset?" Seishirou asked at last, since he didn't follow the very conversation very well.

"It's not sunset itself," the kunoichi started in reply, but Daisuke took over from there, continuing, "The sunsets are actually kind of pretty if the clouds part long enough to see them. It's what comes _after_ sunset that's the bad part."

"What comes after sunset, then?"

"Darkness."

Seishirou knew he was teasing him, but he couldn't figure out why he wasn't getting a straight answer. Or did Daisuke talk like that to everyone, not just those he knew? Though it annoyed him, Seishirou found himself hoping it was the latter. He was tired of having adults duck out of questions they didn't want to answer.

"Here's the tower!" the kunoichi bounded up ahead, pointing to what, obviously, was a tower. It was easily the tallest building in Ame. Without waiting for a reply, she threw open the door and darted inside, shouting, "Aoko-chan, Aoko-chan, we're back!"

Daisuke shooed them all inside and was the last to come in the door. He turned and shut it behind him, bolting it, and then making a seal, presumably to lock it. He didn't bother hiding the motion, though Seishirou was uneasy because of it. "…Why did you lock us in?" Neji asked, and Seishirou was aware that he'd come up behind him and Hitomi protectively.

"Oh, no, I didn't lock _us_ in. I locked _them_ out," Daisuke said simply, shedding his cloak on the floor. He then shook out his hair and wrung the ponytail out, though he still dripped plenty on the floor below. "You can change out of your wet things upstairs. You'll want to, too, trust me. So no being rude by refusing. That means _you_ too, Sasori-san."

"Why is it '-san' now?" the redhead asked flatly. He dripped on to the floor as well, making no move to dry off at all. He seemed to be actually willing himself to drip more, as to make more of a mess.

"Oh, you know, time's passed and all. Plus you look a lot less…" Daisuke gestured vaguely, searching for the word he meant. Sasori raised an eyebrow. "I don't know, you just don't seem like you deserve as much respect without my favorite artist by your side. He completed the artist duo, you know? Without Deidara-senpai, you're just poor little Sasori-san. Unless you're prefer '-kun', of course--"

Daisuke was interrupted (which was good, considering how Sasori was visibly bristling at that point and even Kakuzu was shying away from him) when two girls came flying down the stairs. Seishirou saw little more than blurs of pink and blue as they passed, and immediately rushed to latch on to Tomozou. "Tomozou-kun!" one of them shouted, while the other collapsed into giggles of glee.

Once they stopped moving and Tomozou stopped flailing, it gave the others a time to look at them. The first thing that was said was, "Holy shit," courtesy of Kakuzu.

"Oh, hi," said one of the girls, looking up from where she was petting Tomozou. Seishirou didn't know what made the three men of their group stare at her so blatantly, though she _was_ pretty. Maybe she was another familiar face to them.

She had long, cinnamon brown hair, coming down to nearly her waist. She had a nice smile, and a round face which complimented that, and her eyes were slightly slanted and a dull, dark green. She was wearing a small, pink dress, one of the straps falling off her shoulder, that stopped quite a few inches above her knees; underneath she wore black leggings, or else Seishirou probably would have headed into the next country for embarrassment. Even so, the ensemble did nothing to hide her curves, and curves she definitely had. Seishirou looked back and forth between her and the others, not making the connection.

"Daisuke… She looks just like--" Neji started.

"I'm Aoko," the girl interrupted, smile faltering a tiny bit. "I'm Dai-sama's assistant."

Neji, Sasori and Kakuzu all turned to Daisuke accusingly, the next statement obvious: _assistant_, sure. She certainly didn't seem like the secretary type.

"It's been awhile, Aoko-chan," Tomozou squeaked, still being hugged mercilessly by her and the other girl.

"Ohh, I know! Too long! Look at how much you've grown--you're so _cute_ now, Tomozou-kun!" Aoko squealed, pouncing again on his hair as she petted it. "Your hair--you've grown it out! It's darker now, too! How old are you now? Aren't you twelve?"

"Eleven." Though he was obviously being overwhelmed by the attention, Tomozou didn't seem displeased that it was given by two pretty girls. He seemed to be thinking that if he were to die from oxygen deprivation, he'd like to go as he was.

Then, Seishirou got a good look at the other girl.

She had light blue hair the color of the sky on a clear day, tied back in a ponytail, and eyes that matched. Her outfit, like her friend's, didn't spare any viewer her curves--especially with the low-cut shirt she was wearing. It laced up the front to show her belly button, and flared out over her hips and the black shorts she was wearing underneath. The top, like her hair and eyes, was a shade of light blue, and she wore a long-sleeved fishnet shirt underneath it.

Seishirou was instantly smitten.

"Hi, I'm Yukina," she introduced herself with a smile. "I'm Aoko-chan's best friend, and I also help Dai-sama out from time to time." When she spoke, he belatedly realized that she had been the kunoichi who had brought them to Ame.

By then, Tomozou was nearly unconscious, so both girls let him go. He swayed on his feet before regaining his composure with a shake of his head. He turned to Yukina questioningly. Aoko jumped in before he had time to ask. "Yukina-chan came here after your last visit--you've never met her. That's why you don't recognize her, silly."

"O-Oh."

"Nice to meet you, Tomozou-kun! You're just as cute as Aoko-chan said you were."

"When Aoko-chan last saw him, he was only six," Daisuke commented wryly, amused by their behavior. Seishirou, however, probably would have attacked Tomozou, if Yukina hadn't been in the room, of course. "Well--come on, we've introduced everyone here now--since you guys already know Shika-kun--and there are wet clothes that are dripping on my floor!" Daisuke was promptly hit in the head with a sopping wet Akatsuki cloak. Surprisingly, the offending ninja wasn't Sasori; it had been Kakuzu.

-.-.-

"…This is going to be a long night," said the last of their retrieval team, the one Daisuke had called 'Shika-kun'.

Hitomi recognized him at once. Seishirou didn't, but that was probably because he was too busy staring at Yukina. "You were with the blonde woman," she told him seriously. Her father followed her as she walked over, peering up at him to make sure it was the same person. "You are that Konoha-nin who was with her."

"You two have met?" Neji asked, surprised.

"Yeah. Ino picked her up in one of the non-ninja villages back east." He shrugged before returning to shaking out his wet hair. "We recognized her at once as yours, of course."

"Because of my eyes," Hitomi explained, as if her father wouldn't understand that part. "Seishirou wanted to attack him, however."

Neji chuckled. "Of course he did."

"Your--son?--reminds me a lot of a certain man I met once, you know."

"I'll explain that later, Shikamaru," Neji said, nodding down towards his daughter. Hitomi didn't miss the move, and sulked. It meant she would be left out of more 'important talks', which were basically anything the adults didn't want her to know. "Hitomi, why don't you go get out of those wet clothes? You'll catch a cold again if you don't." It wasn't a very subtle way to get rid of her.

As if his words were a cue, Aoko and Yukina spotted Hitomi for the first time. "She's _adorable_!" Aoko squealed, and Hitomi suddenly felt herself hauled upright.

"I know, isn't she?" Yukina agreed, beaming at them both.

"U-Um, could you please set me down?" Hitomi asked, a little surprised at their enthusiasm. She was used to being called an 'adorable little girl', but never with this much excitement. She wasn't sure she liked it.

"Oh, yeah, of course!" Hitomi was set back down on the floor, though the two kept her corralled between them. "What's your name?"

Hitomi glanced back at her father for help, but he just smiled at her. "Hi-Hitomi," she answered them, hanging her head. Not that she didn't like the attention--but why did Seishirou remind a stranger of a certain man, a man that they wouldn't talk about in front of her?

"Come on, Hitomi-chan. We need to get you into some proper clothes before you get sick," Yukina said, reaching down and holding her hand as Aoko bounded up the stairs ahead of them. Hitomi looked over at her brother and Tomozou, who were engaged in a low conversation; she was going to be separated from them unless she could think of a way out of this. Fast.

"I am fine," she lied, though she knew by how warm Yukina's hand was that hers must be freezing. "Seishirou and Tomozou also need to get into warm clothes, do they not?"

"Yes, but they're boys. They're not going to wear skirts, are they?" Hitomi perked up at the word 'skirt'. She missed those; her tattered, dirty, thrown-together outfit didn't include a proper skirt. "We'll get you a warm bath and then some clean clothes."

"Do… Do you have any kimonos?" Hitomi asked hopefully, boys all but forgotten behind her.

"Kimono? No need to be so formal," Aoko said with a laugh. She was pretty when she laughed, and it was then that the youngest girl realized that Aoko was the one Tomozou had been referring to when he said he remembered a 'pretty girl' in Ame. Hitomi's distrust was back again, and she again tugged at Yukina's hand, trying to return downstairs. "I want to go back to Seishirou," she mumbled.

"We're not separating you, silly. You'll see him again soon."

Hitomi had never before in her life been so against having a bath.

-.-.-

"So… What is wrong with the night here?" Kakuzu asked as he wrapped his hair in a towel. Daisuke snickered at the sight, but it only ended up in his defeat again; this time, Sasori's uniform was thrown at him. "Shut the hell up, Ikari. You're lucky we didn't execute you the moment we saw you. Tell us what we need to know _now_ before things get ugly."

"The night itself isn't what's wrong," Shikamaru replied, sitting on the bottom step. He was already dry, because he had been wearing the cloak and mask the entire time outside. He stayed carefully away from the mud they tracked in. "It's what's been appearing _during_ the night."

"We've already had four people killed, and about five more injured," Daisuke said, for the first time serious.

"Six," Shikamaru corrected with a sigh. He pulled a cigarette carton out of his pocket and tapped one out, placing it in his mouth but not lighting it. "Last night, a man had his leg broken trying to get away."

"What's been appearing at night?" Neji asked, surprised at this. If so few were killed, it wasn't a demon or another ninja. But for so many, it couldn't just be any wild animal.

"Well…" Daisuke rubbed the back of his head, and Shikamaru was staring studiously at the far wall. Neither looked like they wanted to answer.

"…If you don't tell us, I'm going to go climb out a window and find out," Tomozou threatened, reminding them all that he and Seishirou were still in the room.

"Don't!" Given the reaction, they had a very bad problem indeed.

"…Why are we safe inside, then?" Seishirou asked slowly.

"We're not sure, but we're not complaining." Shikamaru shrugged, flicking the cigarette up and down with his lips. "Don't get me wrong, they can't get in for lack of trying. They just… fail at trying, I guess."

"Who is 'they'?" Kakuzu asked impatiently.

"…You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Tell me anyway."

"We're not exactly _sure_ what they are," Daisuke said, still fielding. "If I had to say--they almost look like Deidara-senpai's art." Cue incredulous looks on both Sasori and Kakuzu's faces. "They're black, with hollow eyes, and nothing we can do can really _kill_ them. We can incapacitate them, but in the morning, just before dawn, they all leave, regardless of how many pieces they were in."

"But what _are_ they?"

"They're kind of humanoid in shape, but plenty of them also look pretty bizarre, too--you know what your shadows look like? They can be long at sunset, or a circle at noon. It varies like that, but most of them are some sort of human. Not very tall, just over five feet, I'd guess, and it looks like they aren't armed, so they're not ninja, whatever they are."

"…Some sort of creature, then?"

"Possibly. We're just not sure," Shikamaru replied. "We've been trying to capture one for a few days now, to examine it, but they elude capture."

"How long has this been going on?"

"Two months, two weeks."

"And they remind you of Deidara's art _how_?"

"Just… It looks like they were created. They're not natural. They're very simplistic, too, with points instead of fingers and instead of feet. I don't know how they walk like that, but they do, and they leave tiny little holes all over instead of footprints. It's creepy," Daisuke said cheerfully. "So we lock down Ame at night while this goes on, until we can come up with a plan to combat them."

Sasori and Kakuzu exchanged a glance. "Let us out there," Kakuzu said gruffly, "and we'll take care of them."

"Not tonight. Tonight, you all need to rest and tell us why you're here."

"To get information on the Bijuu. If this Ame is anything like the pre-war Ame, then you'll have set up an information network spanning the continent. We need to know where the demons are currently," Neji said.

"Why would you want to do that? Going to go demon hunting again, huh? It'll probably have the same results," advised Daisuke, nodding knowingly. "Especially with only half the organization still around."

"We're not going to capture them this time. We're going to kill them."

"Why?"

"They've gotten smart," Kakuzu growled, glaring at the wall across the room. "They're going to turn themselves into Jinchuuriki."

Shikamaru gave a low whistle. "…_Just_ what we need."

"Wouldn't that make it easier? Easier to kill them, I mean," Daisuke asked.

"Dai, you know how strong Naruto was with the Kyuubi inside of him?" Shikamaru said, turning to the leader as he took over the explanation.

"Yeah, but still, the Akatsuki won out on that one."

"Naruto was a genin, with limited skills. The Kyuubi was what made him so strong, and he had to work with a child's body. Now imagine what any of the demons could do with a full grown body, which has had years of shinobi training, a wide arsenal of jutsus, and already an established chakra reserve. Imagine them with an _Akatsuki_ body." Shikamaru glanced at the two Akatsuki members. "That's right, isn't it? I assumed the last bit based off of your missing partners…"

"Yeah, that's it."

It was Daisuke's turn to nod grimly. He sighed. "That's… a bit worse than I would have guessed. But--there's only five members left--"

"Your information is lacking," Sasori interrupted sourly. "Four members still alive, and two of them are with the Bijuu now. There are also only seven Bijuu still alive."

"Still, seven is a greater number than four."

"They're not just going for Akatsuki members. They're smart enough to figure out who is around Akatsuki level," Neji said darkly, crossing his arms over his chest. "They've already taken Hinata as well. They'll probably be on the lookout for you, too." He nodded towards Daisuke.

"Hina-chan, Deidara-senpai, Hidan, Kakuzu, Sasori, me--?" Daisuke counted them off on his fingers, looking at Neji all the while. "Missing one there."

"It depends. They might not be on the lookout for you… Only if they missed out on their first pick."

"They're not getting him. The Rokubi is already dead trying to get Uchiha. They wouldn't risk another demon. Do you have a place I could work on her?" The question came at random, so for a moment or two, Daisuke just blinked at him. Sasori gestured to the bloody lump of fabric and flesh that was Haya at that point. He'd been carrying her in one of his other puppet's cloaks up until that point, so it had been easy to hide the fact that he'd been smuggling a half-dead body into the country.

"…Is that what I think it is?" Shikamaru asked, chewing on the end of the cigarette.

"Most likely."

"Sasori, who is that?" Daisuke inquired, grinning uncertainly.

"A Suna kunoichi who I decided to turn into a puppet."

"_Suna_? They already hate Ame, I hope you know. If you just ignited another war--"

"I didn't. There weren't any survivors, and they didn't know we were going to Ame. Do you have a place or not?"

Daisuke, who was ready to beat his head against the wall--at least he acted a _tiny_ bit like the leader of a ninja village--pointed towards the stairs. "Third floor, second door on the left." As Sasori left, lugging Haya up the stairs, Daisuke couldn't resist one last remark, "It's good to see that not everything has changed."

-.-.-

Next Chapter: Hitomi doesn't like Amegakure much. The food is weird and it's making everyone act even weirder. Why is Seishirou so moody all of a sudden? And why is Tomozou--no, Hitomi doesn't even _want_ to know what is behind Tomozou's actions! ...Maybe, though, maybe she'll be able to forget about both of them if it means getting Kisho back.


	21. Crushes, Cats and Bingo Books

"What is this?" Hitomi asked as the plate was set in front of her. She poked it with a chopstick. Thankfully, it didn't do anything in response.

"…Egg," Aoko replied after a suspicious pause. "Like a stir-fry, kind of. With egg."

"_Really_?" Hitomi persisted, poking it again.

"Just eat your food," Seishirou sighed. "Itadakimasu."

"Itadakimasu…" she mumbled, still reluctant to actually ingest what was on her plate. Seishirou didn't have any problem with it, though, and Tomozou was already half done. It couldn't be toxic, but then again… maybe it would have a delayed reaction.

The day had just begun, but already it seemed to be planned out. In a way, Hitomi missed schedules, but right then, she didn't really appreciate it. It was a new village--only the second ninja village she'd ever been to--and she just wanted to explore it. With Seishirou and Tomozou. Instead, they would get a regular old tour, and kept conveniently out of the way of the political talks as Sasori and Daisuke argued about what to do.

"What are we going to be doing after the tour?" Hitomi asked, so she would have something else to do with her mouth besides eat.

"Sasori-sama mentioned that you three want some ninjutsu training." Three heads snapped to attention immediately following that. Aoko smiled at them. "He also mentioned that we're not to teach you a single thing on pain of death."

"You're horrible, Aoko-chan," Tomozou whined as he hung his head, dejectedly turning back to his breakfast.

"He _did_ tell us he'd teach us," Seishirou mumbled around a mouthful of egg stir-fry. "Kakuzu-san, too."

"Once we reached Amegakure," Hitomi added. Her plate was still untouched, aside from the poking.

"Then I'm sure neither of them will back out on you," Yukina said with a warm smile. Seishirou ducked his head to hide the blush. "But until then, you're stuck with us, I'm afraid."

"Oh we would _love_ to have your company," Tomozou said, with an all-too-obvious smirk at the ginger-haired boy. "Isn't that right, Sei?"

"Sasori and Kakuzu said they would not allow you to teach us ninjutsu. What about genjutsu or taijutsu?" Hitomi asked, coming to her brother's rescue.

"We're not allowed to teach you anything that can be later used against them. That's what they told us."

"…What qualifies?"

"I'm not exactly sure, but it means we're staying out of it," Aoko said cheerily. "Are you all done with your breakfast?"

Hitomi still hadn't touched hers. "Ye--mmph!"

Tomozou had leaned across the table and put his chopsticks in her mouth, making her at least try the weird egg stir-fry. "You haven't eaten anything yet. Eat your meal," he commanded imperiously, pointing at her with the chopsticks.

"Aww, that was so cute! Do you feed each other often?" Yukina cooed, looking between the two. Seishirou snorted, but managed to turn it into a cough at the last moment.

"Hmm, not really." Tomozou seemed oblivious to the romantic implications of the question. Hitomi was not; she was slowly sinking down in her chair, face beet red. "Hitomi-san just needs to eat more."

"'-san'? You're too polite, Tomozou-kun. Why don't you call her 'Hitomi-chan'?" Aoko laughed, reaching across the table to ruffle his hair. He grinned self-consciously at the affection.

"I don't know. We haven't known each other that long," he replied simply.

Seishirou leaned down and whispered, "Hitomi-chan, eat your breakfast before he decides to feed you again." She nodded faintly, but couldn't bring herself up; she was now about eye-level with the table. "Hitomi-chan," he repeated, warningly.

Sulking, she stabbed a piece of egg--what she hoped was egg--with a chopstick and ate it. It wasn't bad, but neither was it particularly good, and she was very much aware of most of the group's eyes on her.

It was the worst breakfast she'd ever had.

-.-.-

"…And what we have behind you is the tower. It's actually kind of a throw back to the pre-war Amegakure; the Akatsuki always lived in this huge tower, I guess, and this is kind of like an homage to that. Actually, they went through two towers; one was destroyed in the war itself, and the second had a short life before being stomped into the ground by the Bijuu."

"You mean you copied it."

Aoko shrugged. "Ame's always had a tower," she concluded. "The next nearest attraction of interest is the open-rain market. We call it that since it's always rained--"

"It hasn't _always_ rained," Tomozou objected.

"Do you know about the story of Amegakure's rain?" Yukina asked lightly. All three children shook their heads. "Well, back when the Akatsuki were at their full strength, the leader was the one who controlled the rain. He used it to his advantage; it sensed all of the people that it fell on, and kept track of them for him. It also kept the fields green and the forests lush, so agriculturally, Ame prospered as well.

"Leader-sama was looked upon as a god," Yukina continued in a voice just loud enough to be heard over the rain. "That was it, pure and simple. He was regarded as a god in both civilian and ninja eyes alike, and his Akatsuki were placed just below him. His partner, Konan-sama, was treated as an angel; her paper wings didn't exactly dispel the rumors, either."

"Is that why you still refer to them all as '-sama'?" Seishirou asked, too curious to be worried about addressing her directly.

"Yes. The Akatsuki, Leader-sama especially, were all heroes for Amegakure. They saved it from a bloody, long civil war, and then started corralling the demons to protect the entire world. It was a noble cause they had."

"The Akatsuki… They were supposed to be villains, though," Hitomi said, frowning a bit in confusion.

"Because not all of the demons were actually _demons_ at the time. They were placed in human bodies and called Jinchuuriki--some of the villages didn't like giving up their Jinchuuriki. Konoha and Suna especially."

"You know a lot about history," Tomozou said, awed. Hitomi and Seishirou both turned to him flatly; Yukina was reciting mostly textbook facts, though from a different perspective than that taught at the academy.

"I like history. It's fun," Yukina said with a bright smile.

Seishirou felt his heart wrench unexpectedly; Miki had loved history, too. _Miki… I haven't thought about her in forever…_ he thought, feeling disloyal. _What would she have said about Amegakure?_

"Anyway, Leader-sama's rain. During the Last Great Shinobi War, it never rained once, because he didn't have the chakra to waste on such things. The last time it rained by his power directly was just before the start of the war. Then, all of a sudden, after his death, it started raining again. It was as if when his body died, his soul became the rain. And do you know what? It hasn't stopped raining since that day. The lightest it's ever gotten was a sort of mist." Yukina nodded, ponytail bobbing behind her.

"If the man died, how do you know so much about him? There weren't a lot of survivors of the war, especially Ame-nin, and you're too young to have participated," Seishirou said, shifting the umbrella in his hand.

"I know my history. Don't you know the history of your home village?"

"Uhh… Kind of." The only reason he'd passed the history portion of his schooling was because of Miki's help.

"Wait. Aoko-chan said that you came here only a few years ago. This isn't your home village," Tomozou said accusingly. Seishirou wished he was close enough to elbow him--hard--in the side. Why did he need to be so mean to Yukina?

"I don't really have a home village," Yukina admitted sheepishly. Seishirou definitely wanted to hit Tomozou after that.

"So we adopted her into Ame!" Aoko chirped happily, wrapping her arms around her friend's shoulders. "She's about as close to a real Ame-nin as you can get these days. We have a lot of refugees."

"Like the Konoha-nin," Hitomi piped up.

"Yup!" Yukina said with a nod. "I'm pretty sure we have at least one ninja from all of the different villages. All sorts of ranks, too."

"We even have a Kage," Aoko said, dropping her voice into a whisper as she leaned in conspiratorially. Predictably, the three kids did not believe this in the least, even if they couldn't help but stare with mouths agape. "I'm serious! She was the Raikage. She survived the war and everything."

"She?" Hitomi asked, eyes large as saucers. "…May we meet her at some point?"

"I don't know. Maybe." Aoko straightened again, smiling. "She's not _technically_ a Kage anymore, of course--Amegakure doesn't have one. But she's very strong."

"What other kind of ninja do you have?" Tomozou asked eagerly.

"A bunch of weirdoes, like you," Aoko replied, laughing. He huffed, scowling in embarrassment. "No, I'm kidding, Tomozou-kun."

"Yeah, sure. Well, Ame must have weirdoes, if _you're_ here," he retorted. It was Aoko's turn to huff, and soon, they were both glaring in opposite directions, arms crossed.

"We… We have a wide variety of shinobi here," Yukina took over awkwardly, looking at the two in confusion. "There's not really a single binding factor in styles, not like before the war, or in Kirigakure. Like--Aoko-chan here excels in taijutsu with defensive ninjutsu."

"Yukina-chan is really great at long-range offensive ninjutsu. Actually, she's just good at a lot of ninjutsu." Aoko chuckled, smiling sheepishly.

"And you're not going to teach _us_ these fantastic skills?" Tomozou asked with a pout. Both girls laughed and ignored the attempt at getting around Sasori's order.

"May we at least see your ninjutsu?" Hitomi asked politely. Seishirou inwardly cheered; she was going to win them over, no question about it. If she could get under Sasori's skin and get _him_ to teach them, then surely she could sway a couple of kunoichi who already liked her.

"Not right now. Maybe later…" Aoko effortlessly rebuffed Hitomi's plea, something no one could do without years of practice. Or so she'd thought. Hitomi looked scandalized at getting turned down, and Seishirou's mental cheering quickly halted. These girls were better than he'd thought. "Oh, here's something about Ame I bet you didn't know."

"Amegakure has the highest percentage of bloodline limit users in the world right now. We have one full clan, and a bunch of shinobi who are only one or two of their bloodline left," Yukina said happily, clapping her hands together. "Aoko-chan has one! Only she and her father have it."

Aoko giggled and blushed at the attention, sticking her tongue out at Yukina. "It's not really anything special… Besides, with these three, our percentage just went up again, I bet."

"I thought Kirigakure would have the most bloodline limit users," Hitomi said, raising an eyebrow. "Since it has a larger population."

"You would think that, right? But Kiri has a history of hating bloodline limits, and because of that, they don't have many. Most refugees from other villages would rather come here than there," Aoko explained. "…Didn't you ever get that vibe, living there?"

Hitomi blinked her white eyes. "No."

"What about you, Sei-kun?" Yukina asked, turning to Seishirou.

He tried his hardest to stop from blushing; her words helped with that. "Uhh--what d-do you mean? I don't have one." At least, he didn't _think_ he had one. "W-Wait. Are you saying I have one?!" Yukina seemed well-versed in the world, so maybe she'd know about his eyes. She certainly recognized Hitomi's, at any rate.

"U-Um." Yukina visibly backtracked, looking to Aoko for help.

The brunette came to her rescue with an overly cheerful, hasty, "Y-You just have gray eyes, you know? Yukina-chan must have assumed that h-had one. That's all." It very obviously wasn't all.

"No, you know something," he persisted.

"We know nothing!" Aoko insisted, ducking her head. "It was just a mistake--just a mistake."

"No, it wasn't! You know something about my eyes, don't you? Is it a bloodline limit?"

"I-I don't know!" Yukina said, trying to maintain a smile.

"Seishirou, let it go," Hitomi murmured, tugging on his sleeve. Seishirou sighed.

"…Fine."

He wasn't going to let it go for long, however. He wouldn't dare. He had always been curious about his eyes, and his hair, and how different he was from his family. He had often wondered if he had been adopted, or if he was only Hitomi's half-brother, but he had never dwelt on it long enough to come up with a solid theory. With all of the excitement lately, he had pushed the topic from his mind.

But now, things were slowly falling into place. It was like a giant jigsaw puzzle. His appearance was one of the larger pieces, true, but it was one he'd always known, so didn't pay much attention to. Mostly it was little details, like how all of the Akatsuki members they'd met so far knew him, and how Kisho had said that they came originally from Amegakure. There was some way that Kakuzu and Sasori treated him differently, as opposed to Hitomi or Tomozou. Now, it seemed like one of the final pieces had just been given to him: Yukina had commented upon his eyes. That clinched it. He _had_ to have a bloodline limit (now he only had to find out what it _did_), and he had to have come from Amegakure. He had been born here, then.

Seishirou cast a new eye about his surroundings. It was a dreary village, and it wasn't just from the rain. All of the buildings were in dark, neutral colors, in blues and grays and lots of dull metal. It had a sort of dark glamour that Kiri never had, but it also seemed like a more desolate place. That wasn't taking into account the monsters that roamed the area at night.

This… had been his home.

"…Fine," he repeated. Yukina and Aoko relaxed noticeably.

As the day wore on, Seishirou noticed a lot of things, now that he was paying attention to them. Whenever they passed people on the street, people would often do a double-take, or stare openly at him. There was more than one whispered conversation that suddenly sprung up once they'd passed.

_Does this mean I'm adopted? …Probably_, he thought, for the first time seriously entertaining the possibility. It felt weird. He suddenly felt like a stranger, walking next to Hitomi. His parents--no, _her_ parents--what were their feelings towards him? Why had they taken him in? Was he another child orphaned by the war, and they had taken care of him just because? Or had they known his parents? _It's possible. They lived in Ame during that time. Maybe it was one of their friends, and they died…_ It was the only explanation he could come up with. Why else would they have taken him, and not his real parents?

A lot of tinier, more numerous pieces fell into place in his jigsaw puzzle. Why his parents were so young--his mother had been just sixteen when he was born. She had always acted embarrassed at this fact, and he usually dropped the subject then, but now he realized that it must have been that she was embarrassed--why? Because he was close to figuring it out?

It definitely explained why, when they first met, Hidan had stared down at him with recognition.

It also (maybe) explained why he was able to use all of the elemental chakra natures with ease. Was that his bloodline limit? It would be practical and handy, but he was surprised to find that he had kind of hoped for something better.

Little things that Sasori had alluded to--they made sense as well. He had said that he'd acted like his mother, and he knew he acted nothing like the woman he'd grown up thinking was his mother. _Wait, that meant that Sasori-sensei knew my mom, too. I didn't think he and my mom--Hitomi's mom--would have known a lot of the same people…_ he thought, slightly puzzled. She and Sasori were nothing alike, and probably had nothing but Deidara in common. Well, Deidara and the Akatsuki.

Then, it hit him. It hit him hard and gave him as much certainty as he'd ever had in his life.

"…there was a female Akatsuki member…" he breathed, unaware of the fact that he'd stopped. Hitomi was the only one who noticed, anyway, since he had been carrying their umbrella.

Seishirou didn't know whether to be happy or sad with this realization; he was only startled. He didn't know why he hadn't thought of it before, although, at the same time, he thought it too bizarre to be true. It _was_, he knew, but it was still bizarre.

The timeline fit, and the details he'd picked up fit, and everything fit just perfectly. The only female member of the Akatsuki--_damn it, what was her name?!_ he racked his brain, but couldn't come up with it--had to have known both Sasori and Hitomi's mother. She would have been presumably older, too, not just sixteen when he was born. She also knew origami, the same technique Kakuzu was trying to pass onto him now.

Strangely, aside from trying to remember her name, the first thing Seishirou wondered was _what did she look like_? If he resembled her, that might be why so many people were whispering about him. It would also be comforting to know that he looked like her, though he had never known her.

"Seishirou?" Hitomi asked, jarring him back into reality. He looked at her, uncomfortably aware of the fact that she was not his sister. She tilted her head to one side, repeated, "Seishirou?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you feel ill? You are pale."

"…A little."

"Want to go back to the tower?"

"Yeah… That would be a good idea."

"Yukina!" Hitomi shouted up to where the other three had just noticed they were no longer with them. "Seishirou is sick; we want to go back now, please."

"Oh, no, that's too bad," Yukina frowned as she felt Seishirou's forehead. He didn't have fever, which was good, considering he was only a bit dazed from the revelation and nothing more. "Is it from the rain? Adjusting to the climate?"

"Yeah," Seishirou lied, swallowing his guilt. He didn't like lying to Yukina. The feeling was much more than anyone else; he could usually lie pretty easily, too. "Yu-Yukina," he started haltingly, as they walked back, "Did… Did you know what my--what the female Akatsuki mother looked like?"

"Konan-sama?" Yukina closed her eyes, thinking. "Hmm… My mental image of her is fuzzy, sorry. I've only seen a photograph once or twice."

"She had blue hair," Aoko jumped in, happy as always to help, "And blue eyes, too. She was very pretty. Her hair was almost always tied up in this bun, and she kept a white flower in it… She also wore eye shadow, I guess."

The basic description was nice, but Seishirou found it lacking. For example, if asked about his mother an hour ago, he wouldn't have said something like that. He would have replied with something like, "She has long hair that she only ties back when she fights or when she works in the garden, and she has a kind face that can get fierce when she scolds me. Oh, and when she smiles, she has this way of scrunching up her nose that lets you know that she's really happy." He didn't want a description of her physically; he wanted to know what she had been _like_.

_Konan… She was my mother_, Seishirou thought, closing his gray eyes. He didn't bother asking any more, however, since neither Aoko nor Yukina would have been old enough to know her personally, probably.

"If you want to know more about the dead Akatsuki members," Yukina said, and Seishirou winced a little at the word 'dead', "Why don't you ask Sasori-sama or Kakuzu-sama? Or even your father, or Dai-sama. They all knew the members personally."

-.-.-

Tomozou watched mutely as Seishirou stomped back up into his--their--allotted room in the tower, and slammed the door shut behind him. He knew it would be locked, too. He also had a good idea of why it had happened, whereas the three girls were clueless. "Is he… that sick?" Aoko asked.

"Did I offend him with the bloodline limits--?" Yukina asked worriedly, but her friend shook her head firmly.

"I will go speak to him," Hitomi volunteered bravely.

"No--I will," Tomozou said. He missed the look she gave him; his eyes were on the stairs where Seishirou had vanished. "Later. Hitomi-san, let's go see if your dad is done yet, okay?" Using her as a sort of shield to stop the other two kunoichi from following, Tomozou grabbed Hitomi's hand and marched up the stairs.

If Seishirou found out about his parents, then he would be angry and confused for awhile. The excitement probably wouldn't set in until later. In fact, he would probably sulk and sulk and sulk until something happened to snap out of it. And since Tomozou was such a good person, he was going to be that something.

Really, though, he just wanted to be the one to get in the middle of things. Part of it was genuine concern for Seishirou, his wellbeing, and what sort of psychological impact this could have on him--and the other part was that he wanted to see if Seishirou's revelation would have some sort of impact on his fighting style. Yukina had mentioned a bloodline limit, and his eyes were obviously odd; it would be really cool if Seishirou suddenly unlocked some sort of kickass power.

"Didn't Dai-sama say that there was a library in amidst this mess?" Tomozou asked Hitomi, once they were safe on the second floor. When she didn't answer him right away, he turned to look at her. Her face was really red. Belatedly, Tomozou let go of her hand, trying not to blush himself.

"I-I believe he did…" she answered finally. Last night, Seishirou had asked rather obnoxiously if there was any reason for this many rooms in a single tower. Daisuke had replied just as obnoxiously with a list of so-called important rooms. Among them was a library, which had been their main goal. After all, if no one was going to teach them ninjutsu, they at least wanted to try to learn some techniques on their own, didn't they?

Now, however, it would be used for more important things.

"Why do we want to go to the library…?" Hitomi asked as they marched up to the third floor.

"Well, Ame practically worships the Akatsuki, right? So they should have plenty of books on them."

"…Why?" That was when he realized she was still behind on things. Tomozou paused, mid-step, and seriously wondered whether or not to tell her. Hitomi frowned at him, but in the end, he decided not to tell her. He didn't know how much Seishirou knew, after all, and he didn't want to accidentally give something away (the promise he'd made not to tell seemed moot at this point, or so he told himself).

"Just curious. Don't you want to know more about your love?" he asked, hiding the pause with a grin. Hitomi didn't buy it, though, and just scowled. At least he elicited a tiny blush on her cheeks.

They found the library at the end of the hall on the third floor. It was musty and warmly lit inside, and packed from floor to ceiling with books on shelves. It was a tiny room, though, and there was only one real aisle; the rest of the shelves were mounted on each of the walls. In the corner, there was a small desk, and above it, a window; otherwise, it was completely books.

Tomozou hadn't anticipated so many. He stood there for a few moments, mouth agape. Hitomi pushed past him and walked into the room, surveying it with a practiced eye. She then went immediately to the nearest corner of the aisle shelf, squatting down to the second layer of books, and pulled one out. She idly leafed through it. "…It is a bingo book," she said when she noticed his curious look.

"What?" He wasn't familiar with the term.

"A book of criminals, some information, and sometimes a bounty that has been placed on their heads. Usually only strong shinobi can get into one," she explained, passing it over to him. She then took the next one on the shelf.

A bingo book sounded like exactly what he'd need. Looking through that particular one, however, he was dismayed to find that it was from nearly forty years ago. "This one is old."

"Yes, it is. I think these are placed in chronological order." Hitomi waved her hand over the rest of the shelf; they all appeared to be bingo books. "…Kakuzu is in this one."

"What? Really?" Tomozou looked over her shoulder, and it turned out she was telling the truth. Kakuzu was there, with his hair shorter and looking younger, but it was still him. Information on him was severely lacking, however, and had little more than his village of origin--Takigakure--and a few known techniques. "…Wow. He's _old_."

"…Slightly."

They went through book after book--year after year, until they realized this and skipped ahead--and only stopped when they recognized someone. First, it was Kakuzu, then, it was Sasori, and then they really had to search for familiarity.

Then, right after Hidan appeared in his first book, the woman named Konan appeared. It was a very rough sketch, and the bio below was similarly vague, but it was a start. Tomozou reached for the next book without looking through the rest of that one, and flipped through to the appropriate page again. This time, there was an old photograph.

"This is… Konan?" Hitomi asked softly, scanning the rest of the page. There was a bit more information this time, going as far as saying she was often seen with two boys around her age.

"Looks like it…" The girl was young, probably only fifteen or so. She was cute, in a kicked dog sort of way; her hair was doubtless only held back so she didn't have to take care of it, and her eyes were lidded and tired. There was what appeared to be a paper flower in her hair.

In the next book, she was absent. She was also missing in the next, and the one after that. It was as if Konan had died as a young girl, and left no trace.

It took them nearly an hour to come through all of the bingo books, and none of the known Akatsuki members appeared in the last few. They were usually in one or two, and then, they just vanished inexplicably.

"Maybe… They disappeared because they joined the Akatsuki," Hitomi said presently.

Tomozou stared at her, though since he was behind her, she didn't notice. "…That's _right_." He probably shouldn't sound so surprised; but why hadn't he thought of it? "That's why the names appear and then vanish! They joined the Akatsuki, so of _course_ their information just wouldn't be in any old bingo book."

"We need to find a special bingo book, then."

"Huh?"

"You said that they would not appear in 'any old bingo book'. So there must be a compilation of all of the shinobi that are not in them. There has to be a special one."

"…Maybe." Tomozou wasn't sure if there would be one or not. He could definitely see her logic, but he doubted that the world's strongest shinobi would so simply agree to be put in a 'special' book. Still, it was worth a shot. "Where would one of those be?"

"I am not sure," she admitted hesitatingly. "…I would think that it would be close by the regular bingo books, but… I cannot be sure of that."

Tomozou stood up and looked at the next shelf, above the bingo book one. They books all seemed to be on the villages themselves. Here was _A History in Sand_, and there, _The Uchiha Clan of Konohagakure_. As an afterthought, he took that one off of the shelf. It would be interesting to read if he ever got any free time.

"What's on the bottom shelf?" he asked, craning his neck to look at the topmost shelf. It was full of more village-related books.

"Found it," Hitomi said simply, instead of directly replying. Tomozou was instantly beside her again, reading over her shoulder as she opened the first page.

"'_Instructions: Burn in case of valuable information leaking._' Isn't that kind of obvious? I mean--if you have this sort of book, instead of it falling into enemies' hands, wouldn't you rather it burned?" he asked dubiously.

"Yes, but…" She also seemed to be confused by the instructions, though, and couldn't offer a proper response. "'_Information in the following book has been compiled and checked to be truth by'_…" Hitomi made a small little choking, gasping sound, and drew Tomozou's eye down to the next part, what she had just read.

The name following the statement, the author of this book, was Orochimaru.

"…What the hell… Why the hell does his name keep popping up?! Who was Orochimaru?"

"Ex-Akatsuki," Hitomi replied unhelpfully. "Sasori mentions him occasionally. Orochimaru was his partner prior to his current one."

"I know that, but--" Tomozou took the book from her, flipping through it. It was much shorter than the other bingo books, but had a lot more information on the people contained within. There were Akatsuki members, both ones they recognized and ones they didn't, and Kages, and 'shinobi of note'. "Why did he make this?"

"Maybe it was his job while he was in the Akatsuki," Hitomi suggested. Tomozou bit his tongue to stop from disagreeing; he couldn't help but think that the reasons behind the book in his hands were a bit more sinister. Orochimaru wasn't liked by Sasori, judging by the way the Suna-nin would always mention him. Unless that was just old animosity? When Sasori formed an opinion on someone, that opinion certainly stayed through the years. Maybe Orochimaru had just gotten on his bad side, and that's what they were getting, secondhand.

"How old is this?" he asked instead, closing it to look for some sort of date.

"I do not know. Find someone we know and look at their age. That should tell us."

Page after page slipped by, and the ninja who stared out at them seemed unfamiliar and all too young. Tomozou didn't recognize any of them. Then, suddenly, Hitomi put her finger in the page and said, "Stop! I believe I know him."

The picture was of a young boy, with long, blonde hair that fell over one eye. He was grinning at the camera, though it wasn't a nice grin. He looked angry and barely sane. Looking down at the age, Tomozou saw that the kid was only thirteen.

"That is Sasori's partner. He is much older now, but that is him." Hitomi nodded firmly.

"He's thirteen here. How old is he now?"

"I… do not know."

"Some help you are," Tomozou sighed, and resumed flipping through the 'shinobi of note' section. They needed someone they knew the age of. At least they knew that the book had to be pre-war, so it was at least twelve years old.

Then, he stopped on a page, just as his heart seemed to stop. It was his dad. But then, he saw that it wasn't, though it still looked remarkably like him. Tomozou swallowed thickly and looked at the name. "_Houzuki Mangetsu_," it read.

"This is a Kiri-nin," Hitomi said in surprise, looking from the picture to Tomozou and back again. "Do you know him?"

"This… He looks like my dad."

Tomozou flipped the page, seeing if there was much information on the back--and this time, he was sure his heart must have stopped, and he must have died, because this time, it _was_ his father. Houzuki Suigetsu. He was a young kid, and had been glaring balefully at the camera when the picture had been taken. His white hair had been cut at an angle, as if done by a kunai himself, and he didn't have the grin Tomozou had grown up seeing.

"…This is your father." Tomozou could only nod. "He is six in this picture. How old does that make the book?"

"Why… Did he _know_ Orochimaru?" Orochimaru certainly knew of him. Come to think of it, Sasori had constantly alluded to some sort of connection between his parents and his ex-partner. _Does that mean mom is in here?!_ He impulsively looked through the rest of the section, but no one had red hair like hers; she wasn't in there.

"I think we need to speak to Sasori about Orochimaru."

"Yeah, to say the least."

"Why did you need to look up Akatsuki members in the first place?" Hitomi asked, setting Tomozou back on course. That's right--he was supposed to be looking up Pein and Konan for Seishirou. He could find his own stuff on his own time. But, he realized as his cyan eyes looked sideways at Hitomi, he'd have to be sneaky about this part. He had recognized his dad right away, after all; if the family resemblance was too strong, she might figure out who Seishirou's parents were as well. He didn't know what that would do to her, having her brother suddenly _not_ be her brother (Biologically, of course. But how did you explain that part to a nine-year-old girl?).

"Just… Uhh, nothing. Nevermind." Now, how to get rid of her without suspicion… "Hey, Hitomi-san, why don't you go see what Aoko-chan and Yukina-chan are doing?" So it wasn't the most subtle approach, but it was a valid first attempt.

"No." Hitomi regarded him warily. He had put her on guard. Tomozou inwardly panicked, wondering how to divert her attention.

"Think your parents would be in any of these?"

"I have already looked for them. Only my father is, and only in one of them: the year he became a jounin." Shit, she was still on guard.

Tomozou racked his brain for an excuse. He couldn't use Sasori or her father; they were both still busy. She wouldn't approve of going back to the other girls without her escort. Seishirou was out, too, since he was the problem, in this case. There wasn't anyone else, so he couldn't pawn her off on anyone conveniently.

_Is she squeamish?_ he wondered. "Say, while we're up here, I also wanted to look up something. It's an old scare tactic that my dad mentioned once. You slit someone's throat and then pull their tongue out of the cut, and I just can't remember the name of it. I don't exactly understand how the tongue can move in that direction, and I want to see if it's really as bloody as he said it was."

"It is called a Ninja Necktie, and I think it would be in a different section of the room," Hitomi said airily. She didn't appear at all disturbed by the question or the thought of the killing method.

_Damn it, she's a clingy little kunoichi. What are girls supposed to be scared of? Bugs, and blood, and stuff like that…_ There weren't any handy insects to try with. _Okay, think. Hitomi-san… She hates getting dirty, or having her hair messed up. Would that do it?_

Tomozou was about to do that, and in fact his hand was on her head, when he realized that he didn't want to deal with a girl mad at him for messing with her hair. Hitomi stared at him, unaware of his decision. "…Your hand," she said tonelessly, looking for all the world like she was glaring at him--except for the blush that had suddenly appeared on her cheeks. That gave him an idea.

"Hitomi-san, you should really grow your hair out," he said quietly, hastily withdrawing his hand.

"Wh-Why?" The blush intensified.

"It's unbecoming for the only girl on our team to have the shortest hair."

Hitomi scowled at him and turned away, her face red from embarrassment. She hunched her shoulders a bit and made it quite clear that she was now ignoring him. Tomozou rejoiced at this; she was halfway to leaving him be. Then he could sneak back downstairs, break into Seishirou's room--well, their room--and get back into the middle of things. Maybe, too, he suddenly realized, they could use this against Sasori to get their training underway.

Hitomi was still there, at least for the moment. That would have to be the first thing changed.

_What else doesn't she like?_ He knew he knew very little about her, and their situation took away many of his choices for action. _Hmm… She doesn't like physical affection!_

"Hitomi-san."

She turned just a little bit, expecting an apology. She got a surprise instead. Tomozou leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her thin shoulders, pulling her against his chest. She was too surprised to resist. Then, he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.

Five seconds later, Hitomi was running out the door.

"Mission accomplished," Tomozou said proudly, quite unaware of what he had just started.

-.-.-

Normally, Hitomi would have sat in silence and stewed over the day's happenings--because oh, what a full day it had been--but this was not a normal situation; far from it, in fact. So as such, she had little time to stew and plan and hope and think about it.

Just down the hall, coming down the stairs, she ran into someone. Literally. It happened so fast that she didn't get time to register anything--either the kiss or the collision--and instead, she and the person she'd run into both tumbled down the stairs (she _had_ been running rather fast, after all). Hitomi found herself bruised but otherwise unhurt at the second floor landing, lying on top of someone's stomach.

"…Ow," said the someone, and Hitomi belatedly raised her head.

"I am sorry--" It was a stranger. A male stranger. A pretty handsome male stranger. Hitomi felt the words die in her throat, and couldn't help but blush in embarrassment. Today just wasn't her day. First, Tomozou _fed_ her, then Seishirou stormed off for no reason, then Tomozou _kissed_ her, and now she'd just pushed this boy down the stairs and landed on top of him. She felt like melting into a little puddle of mortification and oozing away. "D-Did I hurt you?"

"I don't think so," he replied, eyes closed, still resting his head on the floor where he'd hit it. After a few minutes, he cracked open an eye. "…Can you get off me now?"

"Oh! Yes!" Hitomi scrambled off of him, adjusting her skirt and shirt as she stood. Now she was all rumpled, too. Though she didn't have a mirror handy, Hitomi absently ran her fingers through her hair, fixing it by memory. "I am sorry…"

"No problem. It was an accident, right? Unless you meant to push me down the stairs--in that case, I'll have to take my revenge by feeding you to my pets," he said cheerfully, sitting up. He held his head for a moment, but seemed to regain his composure, for he stood up soon after. "Say… You're that little Hyuuga girl who arrived here last night, aren't you?"

"…Yes." It wasn't wise to talk to strangers, but she was in a village full of shinobi. Plus, several of those ninja would come to her rescue if it was needed. "My name is Hyuuga Hitomi. I am very sorry for crashing into you and making you fall down the stairs."

"No problem. I probably needed the concussion, anyway," he said with a grin. Hitomi looked stricken, but he only laughed. "Kidding, kidding. My name is Hachi. It's very nice to meet you, Hitomi-san."

Hachi? Had she heard him correctly, or was he just making fun of her? "…Hachi?" she repeated, just to be sure.

"Yeah." He adjusted his glasses after a quick nod. Hitomi frowned faintly. Eight. He was probably making fun of her, but what could she do? She wasn't going to be rude enough to question his name, especially after hurting him. "So what were you in such a hurry for?"

"Hm?"

"You were running. Why? Is there a fire upstairs?" Hachi asked, looking past her up the stairs.

"N-No. There is not."

"Any other sort of emergency I should know about?" he continued, raising an eyebrow. She shook her head firmly. "Oh. Well then, it's all good. Any chance I could get you to accompany me to the library? I'm afraid I have to retrieve a book and I would love the company of such a cute girl."

"No!" Hitomi had said it louder than she would have liked, and realized a beat too late what it must have sounded like. "I mean--I just came from the library."

"I see." He still sounded a little disappointed. "One last question before I'll let you get rid of me?"

"Sure…" Hitomi rubbed her arm, embarrassed at this whole ordeal. She didn't want to seem snobbish, but she couldn't think of any upside to returning to the library. This Hachi fellow didn't seem like such a bad guy, either, and he was really nice.

"What's your favorite animal?"

"Huh?" That question caught her off guard. She had been expecting--well, she didn't know what she'd been expecting, but it hadn't been that.

"Your favorite animal. Do you have one?"

Hitomi thought immediately of Kisho. "I think…" She had never given it much thought. She liked a lot of animals, and come to think of it, she probably only liked cats because she'd had one. Specifically, her favorite animal had been Kisho. As a species? She didn't really know. "…Cats?"

"Why did that sound more like a question than an answer?"

"I had a pet cat, and he was my favorite."

"What happened to him?"

"He was sent back to the summon world after getting caught in a fire," she replied simply.

Hachi nodded thoughtfully. "A summoned pet… Those are getting more and more common these days. A cat though, huh. It's been awhile since I've seen someone summon a cat. There's not too many of those kinds of summoners around anymore."

"You know of someone?" All of a sudden, Hitomi forgot about her horrible day, her humiliation, her shyness--all she could think of was summoning Kisho back. She felt guilty for forgetting about looking for someone all this time, but here, at last! She might get her pet back.

"Well, yeah." Hachi grinned at her excitement. "Me, actually. I'm a summoner. I pretty much suck at genjutsu and taijutsu, and I can only work with water ninjutsu, so instead I work with summoning."

Hitomi could have hugged him. "Y-You can summon cats?"

"Yeah. Along with, let's see… Dogs, hawks, toads, and dragonflies. Hawks are snobby birds, though; I hardly ever use them. I'm working on tracking down the contract scroll for snakes next. That's why I was going up to the library."

"They have contract scrolls in that library?!"

"No--I was looking for information," Hachi replied with a smile. Hitomi ducked her head, trying not to blush at her stupid question. "Are you interested in summoning, Hitomi-san?"

The response was automatic. "Yes!" _Kisho--I can get Kisho back! And now I will never have to worry about him disappearing on me again,_ she thought, feeling something like triumph or glee welling up inside of her. She missed her cat's sarcastic, condescending attitude, the way he'd lick her hair to annoy her, or the way he'd sleep on her kimonos whenever she left them lying around…

Hachi's grin lowered into a smile, a mysterious one that Hitomi couldn't have read. She didn't bother, however, since she was too caught up in her enthusiasm. "Well, how about I teach you how to summon cats, then? It's a lot easier to learn summoning if you have someone teach you, not like how I'm trying to track down scrolls myself…" He offered a self-depreciating chuckle.

"I would love that very much," she said seriously, as she mentally placed Hachi on a tall mental pedestal. In addition to that, she realized, _I will also be learning a technique before either of the boys._ That, too, gave her a bit of joy. Then, with a frown, she remembered that she ought to wait and see what the adults had to say about her chakra system in regard to her spine. Hitomi wiggled her toes just thinking about it. "But… I cannot right now."

"Oh, that's good. I would actually like to finish investigating this lead I have. Afterward, though, I'll teach you. I just can't work on more than one thing at a time, you see; I'm easily distracted," Hachi explained. "So… How about in three days? I should be done either way by then, and you'll have time to settle a bit more in Amegakure."

"Okay!" she agreed with a wide smile.

Tomozou was all but forgotten with this new memory preying on her mind, and Hitomi happily pranced down the stairs to track down either her father or Sasori and tell them that they needed to figure out whether or not she could use ninjutsu _fast_. The fear and trepidation she'd felt earlier at the unknown effect her artificial spine was going to have on her chakra was totally erased by the thought of seeing Kisho again.

-.-.-

Seishirou looked up as someone knocked on the door. He knew it would happen eventually, but he still didn't know who it would be. It could be his father, or Hitomi, or maybe one of the Akatsuki members. Just then, he wished he had the Byakugan to see who it was, but the wish passed, and he was happy with his own eyes again. He didn't know what they _did_, exactly, but they had to be special.

The knocking came again. Seishirou remained motionless on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. His ponytail was hanging off of the edge of the bed, his feet were propped up on the pillow, his arms were held out perpendicularly to his body, and he was actually comfortable. It was a very good thinking position.

He had decided, with his hour to himself, several things. The first and foremost that was just because his adoptive parents weren't his biological ones, he didn't love them any less, and it really changed little to nothing in the long run. It would sure be awkward for the first few days, but that would surely pass with time. Hitomi would also be awkward to deal with, but he hoped that would pass, too. She was too good of a sister to give up.

Another thing Seishirou had decided was that he was curious about his real parents. His mother, Konan, and whoever his father had been. He wanted to know if he was like either of them in any way, behavioral or physical. He knew Konan had used origami, but what had his father been like in battle? What were they both like when not fighting? The curiosity was eating him up; he had to know.

Had they been married? Did they love each other? Did they love him? What did they act like with each other, or with him, or with other people? What did her voice sound like? Did she laugh, or blush, or tuck her hair behind her ears often? What was it like, being the only female Akatsuki member? …How had she died?

The knocking on the door stopped, and Seishirou heard someone picking the lock. It probably wasn't Hitomi, then. He lolled his head in the direction of the door, just as it opened, revealing Tomozou. Seishirou hadn't been expecting him, but now that he thought about it, why shouldn't he have? _He _is_ annoyingly perceptive_.

Tomozou turned and shut the door behind him, locking it again. Then, he approached the bed. He stopped a few feet away, however, and merely held out a book at arm's length.

"…What is that supposed to be?" Seishirou asked, since it was obvious Tomozou wasn't going to say anything.

"The Akatsuki's bingo book."

Seishirou sat up at once. "Do you know?" he asked suspiciously, just to be sure. The other boy nodded. Seishirou sighed. He should have expected that Tomozou would know. He always seemed to know people, and secrets like this would definitely be something he knew. It annoyed him, though. Finding out that his parents were strangers to him was something that should be found out by the kid concerned first, and friends second.

Seishirou scooted back on the bed, shifting so that he was sitting cross-legged, with his back against the wall. Tomozou perched delicately on the edge, handing the book over. "It's old, but the information is still true. Just ignore the ages."

"Did you already check to see if she's in here?" Seishirou asked, running his hands over the cover.

"Yeah. She is." Tomozou suddenly sounded relieved, for some reason he couldn't place. He ignored that for now.

Seishirou flipped open the book, surprised to find one of the deceased Mizukage staring out at him. Turning the page, he found another Kage. He frowned, and flipped to a later part of the book. It was a young kid, probably about his age, with coal black hair and matching eyes. His expression was perfectly emotionless. "_Uchiha Itachi_," the name read.

_So this is Itachi. He was an Akatsuki member later on_, Seishirou noted. This must have been created before he joined, then, since his rank was merely "_ANBU captain_" and he still was connected to Konohagakure.

"The Akatsuki section is in the front," Tomozou said helpfully, and Seishirou turned back to the beginning. "I think Konan-san is on page twenty-three."

He was currently on eighteen. It was open to a woman he didn't recognize, who apparently had been Kakuzu's partner at one point. In some small part of his mind, he had guessed that his mother had been the only female, ever, to be in the Akatsuki. He was wrong, then. _She was the only kunoichi at the time of the Akatsuki's final campaign_, he amended, storing that bit of information away.

He slowly turned the pages, both dreading and looking forward to page twenty-three. How many pages was between eighteen and twenty-three? It seemed like over a million papers separated the two.

Page twenty-three arrived at last.

Seishirou found himself staring at his mother.

She was pretty, he registered first. His second thought was _I look nothing like her._ The color picture was faded a bit, but she obviously had dark blue hair and blue eyes as well; he possessed neither of those. Her expression in the photograph was bored, her eyes lidded and her mouth set in a frown. She appeared to be wearing make-up, or at least heavy eye shadow and a faint hint of lipstick or something like that, and he realized that her lower lip was pierced.

"She… She has a piercing," Seishirou said dumbly, staring at her.

"Yeah, like you. Well, you have some in your ears…" Tomozou leaned forward and brushed part of his ginger hair out of the way. "Three in this ear."

"Two in the other, since _you_ ripped the other one out." There was half-hearted venom in the words, but Seishirou was too busy staring to invest much in an argument. "…I never would have guessed that she looked like this…"

"You look like her," Tomozou said. Seishirou finally tore his gaze away from the picture to stare incredulously at the other boy.

"No. I really don't."

"Your expressions do, I mean. The hair and eyes are kind of different." He gestured at his unruly hair, as opposed to Konan's neat bun. "I've seen you get that same half-glare, half-bored-stare before."

Oddly enough, Seishirou was touched. His mother was dead and he looked nothing like her--it seemed blasphemous--but at least he had one single expression that was alike. It was sad, but it was true, and that's why he probably smiled right then. "Thanks."

"Eh." Tomozou looked away, shrugging. "…It's true, that's all. There's not a lot in her bio, but at least it's something, right? I figure the picture is what you really wanted."

"Actually, you know what?" The smile turned into a rueful grin. "I've seen her before."

"What?!"

"My mother--uhh, adoptive mother--took a bunch of photos of the Akatsuki while they lived in Ame. That's how we could show you pictures of Sasori and Itachi. And there was a picture of my real mom… Biological mother, I don't know who's who now. But… I just wish we would have taken it." Seishirou closed the book, leaning back with a sigh. He felt some sort of closure, though he didn't know why, because for all accounts and purposes, he should have been more curious than ever. All he got was an old photograph of his mother when she was in her twenties.

"You can still go back to Kiri. If you made it this far west, it wouldn't be hard to go back east," Tomozou suggested quietly.

"I wouldn't want to go all that way just for a stupid photograph."

"You would if you could, in a heartbeat," he said with a triumphant grin. "You know it."

"You're annoying. Shut up."

They lapsed into silence; Tomozou evidently decided to follow the order. Seishirou closed his eyes, squeezing them shut tight. He could hazily picture Konan in his mind from memory now. He'd have to look at the photograph again later to get a solid, defined picture, though it would be of his mother too many years ago. Then again, the most recent picture possible would have been at least twelve years old… Maybe he would go back to Kirigakure. Just to get that picture. Or maybe--this _was_ Ame, after all, home village of the Akatsuki before their fall.

Seishirou couldn't help but hope. Maybe someone here would know more about his mother. No--someone definitely would. All he really wanted was a few details and a more recent photograph. He would leave the rest to his imagination.

"…Hey, Tomozou. How did you figure this out beforehand?"

"I just…" The way he stopped talking made Seishirou suspicious.

"Who told you?"

"No one. I just figured it out on my own. I mean--the timeline fit, and--"

"You didn't even _know_ who the Akatsuki were the first time we met."

"…Yeah, there's that. If you must know, Kakuzu-san told me. Don't tell him I told you, though, because he'd probably kill me in my sleep tonight for it." Tomozou winced before continuing. "Sasori-sensei was in on it a little, too. They said I had to keep it a secret from you, because they didn't know how you'd react."

"I'm not really reacting," Seishirou said flatly. "I'm just… curious." For the first time, Seishirou appreciated the fact that Sasori and Kakuzu were Akatsuki--they had interacted with Konan. They would remember her, and Kakuzu had already told them that he at least had picked up Konan's origami jutsu. "That's right!"

"Huh?"

"The origami jutsu. That was… hers." He still didn't know what to call her. On one hand, she was his biological mother--she gave birth to him and raised him for however long it was before she died. On the other, she hadn't raised him. Hitomi's mother had. "I'm going to learn it, though," Seishirou muttered, staring fiercely down at the book in his lap. "I'm going to learn it because the Akatsuki were great shinobi, and my mother had to be the best kunoichi in the world to get into it."

"How very sentimental of you."

"Hey. _You_ are the one who picked up your father's sword techniques. I'd call that pretty sentimental."

"I was raised into swordsmanship, I'll have you know," he retorted indignantly. "But… Sei… I don't know. Damn, I'm just sorry."

"For what?"

Tomozou looked somewhat shamefaced, and was poking his fingers together nervously. "Well, I've known for awhile, and you haven't," he said, indicating that there was more, "And… I was mad at you. I guess I still kind of am."

"For what?" Seishirou asked, on guard.

"You got your dad back," he mumbled. "I didn't."

Seishirou was surprised; he hadn't thought that Tomozou was as lonely as that. It made him feel guilty, though why he should feel guilty for getting reunited with his father he didn't know. It must have been hard, though, for Tomozou. It sounded as if he was close to his parents, his father especially, and being an only child must have made that worse. Seishirou didn't blame him for keeping secrets like that. It must have felt as if it was the only way he could get something above him.

"We'll get your dad back soon. I promise."

Tomozou didn't look cheered. "Sei… I know who your dad is, too. Biological."

The guilt and slight happiness were gone instantly. "…What?"

"I actually figured out who your dad was first. I only figured out that Konan-san was your mother when Sasori mentioned that she was the leader's partner…"

"Oh shit--are you serious?!" Seishirou's voice was louder than he liked, but he couldn't help it. Finding out about Konan on his own was one thing, but suddenly having his father thrown in his face like that? His father was the _leader of the Akatsuki_?! It sounded too weird to be true. It couldn't be true. It just couldn't be true.

"See, that's a better reaction."

"No, it's not. That's just… I don't know. It's--crazy. It makes sense, but it doesn't. We're talking about the same leader, right? The one that was considered to be a god because of how strong he was?"

"That's the one. You look a lot like him."

"_What_?"

"Page twenty-four."

-.-.-

Neji had had a very busy day. In a lot of ways, this was a good thing. It meant he didn't have to think, and it let him act like he was actually _doing_ something. It also made him a little nostalgic. He and Daisuke argued--got into a fist fight, actually--and Sasori didn't help things. They were supposed to be trying to figure out if the Bijuu were in Rain land, but instead they kept getting off track.

They only got a little bit done. They still didn't have any solid leads on the Bijuu. Nor did they figure out what was haunting Ame at night--they were waiting until sundown to see if they could do anything about that.

"You and Sasori-san can go outside. But not you, Kakuzu-san." Daisuke was unusually serious towards the end of their meeting. This immediately put them all on guard. He almost _never_ got serious. Daisuke nodded towards Neji. "You might be safe because of the Byakugan and _Kaiten_."

"Might? That's not reassuring."

"It's a dangerous world. It's hard to be sure of anything."

"Why can't I go out?" Kakuzu asked, his voice dangerously low. He seemed ready to carry out Pein's orders and execute Daisuke on the spot.

"You'll be swarmed immediately."

"Why only me?"

"Neji has his Byakugan and _Kaiten_. I just said that."

"Why Sasori, then?" Kakuzu ground out. Even Sasori was edging away from him at that point.

"He's a puppet. That might throw them off, or it might mean he's safe completely. I'm not sure." Daisuke shrugged, trying not to look nervous. "You three don't know how these things kill, do you? They eat _hearts_."

"Hearts?"

"Literally. Well, kind of--we _think_ they eat them. All we know is that the bodies they leave behind are mangled, with their chests ripped open, ribs scattered and ripped out and broken every which way--" Daisuke was accompanying this with gestures and managed to paint a very descriptive mental image for them, "--and their heart is missing. Along with a lot of blood and usually other organs, but it's always their heart."

"So they eat hearts and look like shadows. …You aren't very creative," Neji remarked.

"I'm serious! We have no idea what they are, and I was describing them as simply as possible for your weak minds to comprehend," Daisuke snapped. Scarlet eyes blazing, he added, "I know next to nothing about these things. All I know is that they've taken down everyone who has tried to take them on."

"Why do they only appear at night?" Sasori asked calmly. This, in turn, had a sort of calming effect on the rest of them, significantly lowering the amount of killer intent in the room.

"We don't know that, either. They might be nocturnal, or they might get hurt by the sun in some way. It's possible they can't stand the light."

"Fire jutsus?"

"Ineffective."

"Lightning?"

"Also ineffective, though that one it's possible we might have missed." Daisuke rubbed the back of his head. "Look, _everything_ we've tried has failed somehow. These things aren't impervious to these attacks, but it just doesn't stop them. They don't bleed, either. Luckily, it seems that they can't use any sort of chakra or learn any sort of taijutsu style, either. They're kind of dumb, too; they just attack whatever they see. They'll scratch at doors and windows at night, but they never manage to get in."

"Is it some sort of jutsu?"

"That's what we've been thinking. You should check them out with your Byakugan."

"Will do."

Then they only had to wait for night, of course. Sunset was still an hour away when Neji discovered that his night would be just as busy. Not only was he expected to defend Amegakure for the second time in his life, but now he was expected to deal with family problems.

Seishirou stood in front of him. He was looking at him with barely masked anxiety--or maybe it was anger in those gray eyes. Neji couldn't blame him, for he was holding a book open. He held it out at arm's length, using it as a sort of shield, though really it could have been used better as a metaphorical sword.

On the page, a young man with spiky, ginger hair and gray, ringed eyes glared sullenly out of a slightly faded color photograph.

Neji didn't know what to say. He and Hinata had both known that this day would undoubtedly come, but it had always been some sort of an unspoken agreement that she would be the one to talk him through most of it; she was his connection to the Akatsuki. It not only made her absence that much sharper in Neji's mind, but it also made him feel as if he had brought it upon himself by bringing them all to Amegakure.

"We need to talk, then," Neji said finally, reaching forward and closing the book. He meant to take it out of Seishirou's hands, too, but the boy stubbornly clung to it. Neji didn't bother fighting him for it.

"Yeah, we do," Seishirou mumbled, hugging the book to his chest.

-.-.-

Next Chapter: Neji and Seishirou have a talk about the pre-war Akatsuki and Amegakure. Meanwhile, the fight against the monsters starts--and heats up! The adults battle and the kids have a blast.


	22. Legacy

Seishirou sat on the very edge of the bed, the bingo book open on his lap. No doubt he was feeling very young right then. Neji was also slightly curious about the book, but that would have to come later.

He didn't know how to broach the subject, really. Several opening topics came to mind. He considered taking the easy way out and letting Seishirou speak first, but Hyuuga Neji had never been one to take the easy way out.

That didn't mean he was going to take the first leap, however--especially without looking first. "How did you find out?"

"I added two and two," came the mumbled reply. That didn't help much.

"The book--?"

"Pictures. Tomozou found it… Why did he know, and I didn't?"

"That was Sasori and Kakuzu's fault. I don't know what they meant by it, but it was their doing nonetheless. It's possible he found out on his own and they had to confirm his theory to keep him quiet," Neji speculated, though he knew that that was most likely the case.

"Why did he have to stay quiet at all?" Seishirou asked angrily.

"Seishirou…" Neji sighed, taking the brief moment to gather his thoughts. "There are so many things that happened in that last war. Your mother--I mean, Hinata--and I, we weren't sure what to tell you and what we shouldn't, so we kept quiet while you grew up. When Hidan showed up unexpectedly… We didn't have time to tell you then, and all of these events kept piling up on one another to stop us from finding a place to speak to you about this."

"You could have told me that the leader and Konan were my parents."

"You would have only questioned us more on the topic."

"Well, that's what's happening now, isn't it?!" Seishirou snapped, glaring at him. It soon passed, however, and then he looked morose again. "I just… I don't know. On one hand, it's really cool to find something like this out. On the other… It's frustrating. It was kept secret, and they're both dead anyway, so it's not like I'll ever know them…"

"I can understand that," Neji said with a nod. "…You know, Sei, when I was about your age, I found out something about my family that completely changed my view on them, too."

"You weren't adopted," he muttered rebelliously.

"No, I wasn't," he allowed, "But it shocked me nonetheless. I can only tell you that you'll come to your own conclusion on this, and take it your own way. No one can tell you what to think. You can decide you hate everyone for keeping this from you, you can accept it and go on, or you could even decide you hate all of the Akatsuki and go on a killing spree."

Seishirou looked at him with surprise, trying to figure out whether or not he was joking. Neji only smiled, and the boy relaxed. "I probably won't do that."

"That's good."

"Dad… Well, I'm still calling you that. I still love you and Mom, but at the same time, I also feel a little distanced from you now." Seishirou sighed, looking years older. "How did you two end up with me…?"

"It's a long story," Neji said, half-hoping to not have to explain it.

"We have time." No such luck.

The brunette man took a deep breath, wondering where to begin. "Let's see now… Your mother, Hinata, she was informally adopted into the Akatsuki. Konan-san and she were hardly close, but they could loosely be called friends.

"On the night that the Bijuu broke free and attacked--"

"What do you mean, broke free?" Seishirou interrupted. "We never got any details in school."

"The Akatsuki were using a sort of prison to keep them all in and simultaneously power a jutsu that could eradicate entire villages. Like Konohagakure… After they used it that once, the seals weakened significantly, and the Bijuu all broke free. Needless to say, they were not pleased, and set about going after the Akatsuki for revenge," Neji explained with a faint frown. "The Akatsuki defended Amegakure, and ended up getting slaughtered in the process.

"Your father, Pein, the leader, ordered the retreat that came too late. He ended up sacrificing himself to save Konan-san. She died soon afterward."

"Were you there?"

"I was in Amegakure, trying to help with the evacuation. That night, when the Akatsuki had used their jutsu for the first and last time, we were actually babysitting you."

"You were my _babysitter_?"

"Don't sound so incredulous. After the fight began, one of the Akatsuki members came back and told us to take you and evacuate with the rest."

"Then… If one of them had time to come back, why didn't _she_ come back? She--"

"Seishirou, you don't understand the panic and confusion of that night. The Akatsuki member who came back was an accident; we reverse-summoned him with Kisho in order to find out what was going on. The Akatsuki were holding the Bijuu at bay in order to give us time to evacuate. Konan-san wouldn't have left them, even for you."

Seishirou glared down at the book, his ginger hair falling into his eyes. "Why… Why did they even _use_ the Bijuu jutsu, then?! They had already won the war, hadn't they?"

"Konoha ordered one last-ditch assassination attempt in desperation. They made the mistake of targeting you and Konan-san. Konoha was destroyed in retaliation. Your parents loved you enough to destroy an entire ninja village to protect you," Neji said with an attempt at a smile. Seishirou returned it shakily, then turned back to his book.

"So… They loved me, then?"

"More than anything. Konan-san adored you, and the leader didn't let the two of you out of his sight. I still remember how she would glare at anyone who did anything 'bad'--by her standards--in your presence. This included swearing, unfortunately, and it got several of the members in trouble."

"Hidan-san and Kakuzu-san?" Seishirou guessed.

"Mostly them, though it actually got Pein-san in trouble once…"

"But… He was the _leader_."

"Konan-san could sometimes order him around, especially when it came to you."

"What else… What else happened while they were alive?" Seishirou asked quietly.

"I wasn't there the entire time… But I do distinctly recall that you liked long hair, particularly ponytails. I'm pretty sure you pulled on everyone's hair at least once, though. You really liked Itachi's hair."

He tugged at his own ponytail absently.

"Your favorite toy was Konan-san's flower, too, though Kisho's tail came at a close second once you met him." He elicited a tiny smile, so Neji continued. "Konan-san also enjoyed dressing you up. Often it was in red and black attire. Sasori also said that your blanket when you napped was usually her uniform."

"What were they like?"

"Neither of them spoke much. Konan-san was quite often the more dignified of the two, and she rarely spoke without thinking. She was strong-willed and independent, and she had this certain way of smiling that was all her own. Pein-san was commanding, and a very good leader. He was also hopeful. Though he was known for his sadistic streaks… He treated the Akatsuki like his family, so of course it meant he wasn't kind to them all the time. In fact, he was rarely kind."

"He was mean, then?"

"No, he just liked making people realize that they were in the wrong."

"…Huh?"

Neji thought about how to explain that. Pein had been one to enforce rules--at least his own. "If you broke a rule, you would be punished, but fairly. But if you tried getting _around_ a rule, he wouldn't punish you so simply; he would have to make sure you learned your lesson."

"Oh. Um--what kind of jutsus did he know?"

"Besides his rain?"

"Besides that," Seishirou said flatly. "He had these eyes, so I'm wondering what they are--"

"It's the Rinnegan. I don't know what they did, but I knew he had a vast array of jutsus at his disposal. You've probably figured out by now that you're not limited by affinities?"

"Is that it?" He didn't sound impressed.

"Maybe," Neji replied evasively. He didn't know, after all. He was already thinking fairly hard just trying to remember all of the little details about the deceased leader, since they hadn't exactly been bosom buddies while he was alive. Most of his knowledge was secondhand, either from Hinata or Sasori.

"My mother used origami," Seishirou said seriously. "Kakuzu-san tried to teach me it. Now I'm definitely going to learn it, though. What did she do with it?"

"She could do a lot of things. She could make weapons, or create wings; those two she used the most."

"Did she just carry around a bunch of papers with her?"

"Not exactly."

-.-.-

"The sun will set soon," Daisuke told the mostly silent table. No one answered him. He sighed, and glowered at them all over his cup. True, Neji and Sasori had never been talkative, but he would have hoped to get one of the other (suddenly taciturn) ones to speak.

He caught Aoko's eye across the table, but she just looked pointedly at Seishirou instead. He wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean. Daisuke frowned, shoving another dumpling in his mouth. What was _with_ everyone?! Usually, he couldn't get Aoko and Yukina to shut up, and he'd expected the children to be noisy as well…

_Maybe I underestimated Neji's influence on Hitomi and Seishirou_, he thought, looking at the two. Hitomi hadn't touched her meal, hands folded perfectly in her lap, white eyes on them. She was steadily avoiding eye contact with everyone. Seishirou just seemed lost in thought. His chin was propped up in one hand, and the other mechanically brought bite after bite up to his mouth. Daisuke doubted he even tasted it. _Tomozou should have been talkative, though,_ he remembered irritably.

But Tomozou, too, was mute. He was also not looking at anyone, and instead was concentrating on building a pile of the vegetables he wouldn't eat.

Everyone seemed lost in their own thoughts. Sasori was flexing his hand experimentally, studying his fingers with a care that belied his disinterested expression. Kakuzu was eating, at least, though he didn't seem happy. That, Daisuke could attribute to being told he wasn't allowed outside after dark. Neji was also eating silently, glancing over at Seishirou and Hitomi from time to time.

"…I think I might kill myself now," Daisuke announced. A few eyes went up to him, either from curiosity or surprise, but no one immediately spoke. His flat look dropped into a glare. "Damn, I had forgotten how boring all of you are."

"We're not boring," Tomozou mumbled half-heartedly.

"Why would you kill yourself, Dai-sama?" Aoko asked. At least she had the courtesy to look concerned.

"Maybe I've lost my honor as a host, if you all are looking like I just killed your puppy. Or maybe I just want the entertainment value." He pouted, setting his chin in both hands, elbows resting on the table.

"It's a _meal_. You're supposed to be using your mouth to eat, not speak," Sasori remarked lightly.

"You guys are making me lose my appetite. Goddamn, it's like someone _died_ in here, seriously." To his annoyance, no one replied. Daisuke got up and crossed his arms. "I'm going outside to watch the sunset. If any of you need me, heaven forbid, that's where I'll be."

"What about the monsters?" Hitomi asked in a small voice.

"Don't worry about the monsters, Hitomi," Neji said quietly. None of the children knew about their plans that night, to prevent worry and possibly a scene. Daisuke sighed and departed from their company, heading up to his office for a few things.

He never would have guessed that _this_, all of it, would have happened, twelve years ago. Was it only that long? It seemed like so much longer. The world was supposed to change centuries ago, and gradually--not just over a decade ago.

_I wonder what Pein would have done if he was still alive,_ Daisuke thought absently, rummaging around in his desk. He couldn't even remember what he was looking for, now that he thought about it. He sighed, sitting down in the chair. "This is stupid," he said aloud, quite unaware that he did so.

_Pein probably wouldn't have let those things appear in the first place. His rain would've stopped it the first night, anyway_, he thought morosely. _…What am I gonna do about them?_ Neji and Sasori were his last resort, so to speak. Unless he got some sort of clue as to where they were coming from, or what they were made out of, or some way to combat the creatures, he, and Amegakure, would be in dire straits indeed.

Daisuke finally left the room and headed outside. The sun was already over half set, bathing the village in a warm, red glow, barely seen between the clouds. The last stragglers of the day were hurrying about, hasty to get inside before it was fully dark. Here and there, mothers screeched at their children to get home, and merchants closed up their stalls. The rain was thin, but not quite misting; rather, it fell in fat drops.

The dark clouds overhead reflected the sun's last rays, which further served to annoy Daisuke. The reflected light made it too red, as if the village was on fire. Actually seeing a sunset was a rarity in Amegakure, but the scarlet ones always had this effect, so he was probably one of the few that didn't appreciate them when they did show up.

By the time the sun actually set, twilight setting in, the clouds overhead fading to a faint orange, Daisuke was much less stressed. He was also completely alone outside. Several people had asked him to go inside, but of course he politely refused.

He couldn't suppress a small grin.

_It's about time we tried fighting back for real_, he thought, glancing over his shoulder as Neji and Sasori finally joined him in the rain.

"Where are these things, then?" Sasori asked, looking around him in the closest thing to uneasy as Daisuke had ever seen.

"Nervous that they eat _hearts_?" Daisuke asked, allowing himself to grin. Sasori glared at him.

"They also take other internal organs. Maybe I'll carve you open here for bait for them, and maybe I'd just watch them carry away your liver."

"Livers aren't very threatening."

"But you do die without them."

"Will you two stop it?" Neji asked with a wearisome sigh. "You're like children, honestly…"

"Speaking of children--" The leader started, only to be cut off by an unwelcome visitor to the scene.

"They're on the fourth floor," Yukina chirped happily, hands clasped behind her back.

"…You're supposed to be babysitting them," Daisuke said flatly, turning his red glare on her. "You know, _inside_, where it's safe."

"Are you kidding?" Of course, if Yukina was outside, Aoko was sure to follow. The brunette skipped out into the rain after bolting the door shut behind her. "First off, just because we are female, it does _not_ mean we are babysitters."

"Second," Yukina added, "If you are going to be out here, Dai-sama, so are we."

"No, you two aren't," he replied. Neji and Sasori exchanged a look, clearly questioning just how much power he had as a leader if two young kunoichi wouldn't listen to him. That only served to irk him further. "Get back inside, both of you."

"No!" they chorused. Yukina continued, "You haven't let Aoko-chan get a good look at any of them, so she really should be out here!"

"And Yukina-chan can keep them at bay with her ninjutsu!" Aoko also had to have her say on the subject, loyally defending her friend's right to be there.

"Just let them stay out here. Their voices are grating on my nerves," Sasori muttered. Daisuke rolled his eyes.

He didn't have time to argue the point, however, as the first monster chose to appear at that time.

-.-.-

"Come on, come on, it doesn't take that long to pick a lock!" Tomozou hissed, hovering over Seishirou's shoulder. The elder of the two sighed irritably, shaking his hair out of his eyes. "Come on!"

"If you think I'm taking too long, why don't _you_ do it?!"

"Oh, I never learned how to pick locks." The offhand remark was punctuated with a broad smile. It only highlighted Tomozou's patchy education--and Seishirou's waning patience.

"Then kindly shut your mouth before this pin goes up your nose."

"That would hurt, though."

"Yes, yes it would."

Tomozou kept quiet after that. As if that did the trick, the lock clicked open just moments later, and the two boys snuck out into the hall. Seishirou shoved the pin back into his ponytail, giving Tomozou a disdainful look as he snickered. "You're so _girly_."

"At least mine is long enough to have some use. You look girly and it's _pink_," he snapped, looking around to make sure they weren't discovered. The hallway was empty, save for them. In fact, the entire building seemed eerily quiet--except for the constant pitter-patter of the rain on the windows and the roof, far above them. It was just background noise, however. Even being in Ame a few short days, they had gotten to the constant rain. "Where did you find that book?"

"Library, on the floor below. It was with a whole bunch of other bingo books," Tomozou whispered in reply. "That was the only one that had your parents post-Akatsuki, though."

"What about pre-Akatsuki?"

"There was one or two with your mom. I don't recall seeing your dad."

"Well… It's Ame. There's bound to be more information on them both."

They stole down the steps cautiously, as good shinobi should. Even so, they came across no one, which was surprising--several ninja, including Neji, should have been on them to send them back to bed the moment they snuck out. The tower seemed empty.

Even when Tomozou tripped on the stairs, falling onto Seishirou and sending them both down half a flight, no one showed up.

"…Where _is_ everyone?"

"Get off of me."

Suspiciously, they continued onward to the library. Still, they saw no one.

-.-.-

Neji ducked smoothly under the first monster, Byakugan activating as he did so. He was alarmed to find that it looked exactly like it did in his normal vision: black and chakra-less. They weren't animals, then, that was for sure; nor were they any living creature, unless they had somehow evolved without any chakra or internal organs.

The one in front of him staggered back to its feet--or lack of, as the case was. Just as Daisuke said, it had nothing but sharp spikes from the knee down. Its hands were replaced in the same way. Its head, however, was suspiciously round, aside from a slightly pointed nose; it seemed out of place on a body of angles and points. The creature tilted its head, swinging its arms and shifting its weight from one leg to the other.

Neji faltered just a bit. If it didn't have chakra, he didn't know what his _Juuken_ would do. The black thing took that as a sign of weakness and charged again. It moved in a perfectly straight line, one foot exactly in front of the other, he noticed. It was easy to sidestep. The monster had to halt completely, and slowly swung its body around, one part at a time, to face him again.

_It's behavior is odd… unnatural_, he noted. Behind him, the others were engaged in their own battles, all of them one-on-one. It was actually very easy fighting the things, even if they were strange. Their movements were easy to read and they didn't seem to be able to think past one move ahead in a fight. _Why are they posing such a problem to Amegakure? There's just a handful here, but they are easy enough to take care of_.

The monster came at him again, and this time, Neji tried a counterattack instead of a dodge. He got out of the way of the pointed arms and then brought his palm up under its chin, immensely surprised when he felt something crack and the thing went flying into the nearest building.

_That was _way_ too easy_, he thought in astonishment. So in addition to being only moderately fast, easy to read, and one-track-minded, they were incredibly light and had no natural defenses.

After it fell from the building, the creature just got back to its feet, shaking mud off of its face. It rushed him yet again, and this time, Neji caught its arm and snapped it effortlessly.

"Daisuke, these are easy to fight. What is the problem--"

Neji found out the problem right then, as if summoned. He had his Byakugan active, which allowed him to see all around him and spot the others fighting; even though it was night, they glowed in his vision with their chakra systems. He was too used to fighting humans and reacting to that.

Suddenly, four more of the creatures appeared from the shadows of the night all around him, coming at him in a unified attack. Neji ducked under the first two, but the third grazed his arm with its fingers--that one had them, evidently--and the fourth bowled him over completely. It had been a small, squat one, and took out his knees from the back, just as the first one hit his chest from the front. He was down in the mud before he could catch his balance, and the monsters were immediately upon him.

_They swarm!_ He cursed himself for not thinking of it sooner. It would have made sense, but that was hindsight, and he didn't have time to work that out just then. Neji tried to roll, but he found himself under half a dozen of the monsters. They restricted his movements surprisingly well.

The _Juuken_ style was dependant on movement, which was why he was temporarily stuck. Neji stopped struggling and took a calming breath. One thing that saved him these past years was that while his signature style was dependant on movement, he was not dependant on that style. Still, he didn't have much time to think of a way out of so many flailing, sharp limbs. Limbs that were now methodically pinning his arms and legs down, while one was trying to attack his chest; however, the fabric of his shirt seemed too much for it to handle.

_They take hearts, and other organs,_ Neji remembered, staring coldly down at the black thing sitting on his chest. _That is their goal. They seem to have no other conscious aim_. He could use that to his advantage then.

He tested both arms, finding that his left one had a lighter creature on it. With a burst of strength, he threw it off and rolled over onto his hands and knees, throwing most of the rest off in the process. Neji grabbed the one that was now suddenly under him by the head, picking it up as he stood up. It flailed wildly, scratching him in several places with its sharp legs and arms, until Neji crushed its head between his hands. It fell to the ground, twitching slightly.

The only thing on his hands was mud, which was being quickly washed off by the rain. They didn't bleed and they didn't have brains. The latter didn't surprise him much.

What did surprise him was that after a few twitches, the thing at his feet got back up again. True, it seemed sluggish and disoriented, but it was still functioning.

"What the hell are you things," he growled, kicking it.

The monsters responded by tackling him again, trying to force him back to the ground. As he was expecting it, it didn't work; he threw them off and began the tedious process of trial-and-error to figure out what would work on them.

Dawn broke quietly through the pouring rain. It illuminated five bloody, exhausted ninja, watching sullenly as the black monsters dragged their broken bodies away. It was no easy feat for a shinobi of any level to fight all night, especially when they were outnumbered. Neji felt like collapsing where he stood, but he knew he ought to help survey the damage and talk over the information they'd gathered.

Neji had suffered no serious wounds, but enough of the small ones to make walking a pain for awhile. There was also a thin cut down his chest, the closest the things had come to getting what they wanted. He had learned that they didn't have chakra, and that no sort of chakra attack would work on them. That was valuable information, even if it hadn't helped him much that night.

"What is this supposed to be made out of?" Neji asked sourly, holding up what appeared to be a piece of a leg one of the monsters left behind. Aoko, the closest, turned and made a face immediately. He rolled his eyes, ignoring the stinging, and flung it to the ground at her feet. She delicately stepped away from it, looking decidedly ill.

"It looks as if it's half-rotted…" she mumbled defensively.

Now that she mentioned it, it did. In fact--even as they watched, as the sun started to lighten the sky through the clouds and the rain, it started to decay completely. It was not much more than a dark puddle in just a few minutes. Neji knelt down beside it, activating his Byakugan again, trying not to wince as he did so. "…It had a decaying jutsu placed on it. That's why they can't come out into the sunlight, however weak; they'll fall apart," he informed her, straightening.

"Who would do that to their own… creations?" Aoko asked, pausing when she tried to identify the monsters.

"Someone who doesn't want them to get caught."

"Can someone help me with this?" Both looked up at Yukina's shout, and were shocked to find that she was fighting with one of the few remaining active things. It had an unusually bloated belly, which was unfortunately explained when they saw the state Yukina's body was in. Her stomach was torn open, still bleeding, bits of flesh and clothing hanging over the gash. She was still functioning, _somehow_, though. "It took one of my kidneys! Help me get it back, please?"

"Yukina-chan!" Aoko screamed, scrambling over to help her friend. The two of them wrestled the creature to the ground, cut it open, and the brunette kunoichi tried to fish Yukina's kidney out of its belly. Yukina collapsed soon after that.

"Come on, you two. We need to get inside." Daisuke jogged over, holding a wounded shoulder in one hand and his sword in the other. He glanced back at Neji over his shoulder, and asked, "Can you carry Yukina?"

"I'll try." Truthfully, he didn't feel quite up to it, but he wouldn't allow her to simply die in the rain. Plus, the tower wasn't that far away; surely he could make it there--

"I've got her." Sasori pushed past him and strode over to the fallen kunoichi, throwing her over his shoulder with nothing more than a groan from her. Neji was not surprised in the least at Sasori's state; aside from Yukina's blood, there wasn't a scratch or mark on him.

"Come on, Aoko-chan," Daisuke said gently, helping her up. She seemed shaky, but otherwise fine. Neji helped support her, grabbing her under the arms and forcing her upright when she swayed.

"Yu-Yukina-chan will… She'll be alright, right?" she asked shakily. Daisuke and Neji looked at each other over the top of her head.

"Of course she will be. Kidneys are one of the less vital organs they could've taken," Daisuke said kindly.

"Unless she dies of blood loss, I'm sure she'll be fine," Neji added. Aoko whimpered at the thought, and Neji earned himself a glare from Daisuke.

"You suck at comforting."

"I was being realistic," he replied defensively. "…If you can help Aoko-san, I'll go back and grab that monster. We'll need to examine it before it rots."

"Yeah, go ahead." Neji ducked out from beneath Aoko's arm, backtracking his way through the mud and puddles to find one of the larger, less decayed monsters. It was a surprisingly easy task. The one that had attacked Yukina was still alive, to some degree, and still more or less whole. He wrestled it to the ground and managed to tie its arms and legs with strips of fabric from his shirt.

So they had survived the night's onslaught of the creatures. Now they just had to figure out how to properly combat them.

-.-.-

Kakuzu closed the book he'd been reading--one of the ones he had 'borrowed' from Sasori--when the tower's doors opened. He wasn't surprised to see the sorry state most of them were in. "Have a good time?" he asked mildly. Sasori rolled his eyes and deposited a very injured Yukina on the foot of the couch.

"Oh, yes, it was _amazing_. Too bad you missed it," he replied calmly. "Can you sew internal organs back together?"

"Of course. What do you think Hidan's always cutting out and stabbing?" Kakuzu leaned in curiously. It wasn't every day he got to operate on people who weren't Akatsuki. "What did she lose?"

"A kidney and a lot of blood," Daisuke said as he came in, supporting Aoko. "Aoko-chan, go to bed now, okay? We'll take care of Yukina-chan."

"I'm staying up. I'm fine. Don't baby be so much, Dai-sama." She detached herself from him, wobbling a little as she walked over and knelt beside Yukina.

"Go to bed. I don't need any emotional kunoichi hovering around me," Kakuzu snapped. Aoko looked hurt, but stayed her ground. "Go! You'll just be in the way--"

A soft noise at the top of the stairs made them freeze. Hitomi was standing at the top, stuffed chicken clutched tightly in one hand, staring at them all. To make things worse, Neji had just got inside, carrying the struggling monster. He, too, halted once he spotted his daughter. "You… You are all covered in blood," she said, hurrying down the stairs. "Why are you all injured?!"

"Hitomi, why are you awake? It's still early--" Neji was cut off as she tackled him in a forceful hug. He winced, which, she thankfully didn't notice. "Hitomi, go back to bed. We're fine. See? We're all fine."

"Come on, Hitomi-chan. Let's go to bed, okay?" Aoko came to the rescue as she gently detached the young girl from her father, carrying her towards the stairs, so she wouldn't see Yukina. "Why were you up, anyway?"

"Seishirou and Tomozou are not in their room, and I heard noise downstairs…"

"We can find those boys later…" Their voices faded away as they disappeared upstairs. Neji sighed in relief.

Kakuzu had been stitching Yukina up while they were busy distracting Hitomi. It wasn't particularly hard: a relatively clean cut. The hardest problem to deal with was the fact that she'd lost a lot of blood, most of it pooling in her body, which made things messier than they strictly had to be. Kakuzu, however, was used to Hidan as his partner, so it wasn't as if he minded such things. He only had to use two threads in the operation, so at least he could be thankful for that.

"There," he said, watching dispassionately as the last thread sewed her stomach back together. "It'll probably scar, but it was her own damn fault. How did it go otherwise?"

"Daisuke wasn't kidding when he said they were annoyingly durable, and they can certainly take down chuunin or jounin, if there's enough of them," Neji said with a sigh, nudging the monster at his feet. "We might want to take care of this one quickly. It's already starting to fall apart."

"I'll preserve it," Sasori offered at once. Most of the others took this for granted, but Kakuzu knew better. He didn't say anything, however, and just watched as the short puppet master carried the squirming monster up the stairs to his workshop.

_Now, if I were him, what would I do with that thing…?_ he wondered, but he couldn't come up with any obvious answers. There was no doubt in his mind that Sasori had ulterior motives for being so helpful, but he wasn't sure what those might be. Kakuzu tore his thoughts away from his ally and returned them to the present. "Anyone else need stitching up?" Daisuke and Neji looked at each other, and then shook their heads. "Fine. Good. That means it won't cost as much for you."

"What? You're charging us for this--?" Daisuke squawked in outrage.

"Of course I am. It was a rush job, and I don't like being rushed. Also, _you_ said I couldn't go out there last night, so I was bored out of my mind all night. I want compensation." Kakuzu stood up to his full height and jabbed a finger into Daisuke's chest. The black-haired leader paled, and reluctantly nodded. Kakuzu couldn't help but grin. "Good."

"Since you were in here all night… Do you happen to know where the boys went?" Neji asked.

"Hm?"

"Hitomi mentioned that Seishirou and Tomozou weren't in their room. I was wondering if you had enough foresight to keep an eye on them."

"I didn't hear them, so they probably didn't come down too many floors. Check the library. They seem keen on learning more, don't they?" Kakuzu shrugged indifferently.

"In that case, can you go grab them? There are things in that library that overenthusiastic young boys should _not_ be learning." Daisuke yawned and stretched before resuming, "I'm paying you, so you could at least do a little babysitting while you're at it."

"This is going to cost more," he replied critically, mentally wondering how many more digits he could add before Daisuke would refuse to pay.

"I'm too tired to care right now. Just keep them out of the library and make sure they don't see Yukina. I'm going to bed." Daisuke yawned again and went to the stairs.

"How responsible of you," Neji muttered, loud enough to be heard.

"I'll take care of it when I've had more sleep. You might want to get some sleep, too, unless you _like_ dealing with children while operating on no sleep…" By the look on his face, Neji did not like doing that. Kakuzu sighed as the two retreated upstairs, leaving him to clean up and take care of Yukina.

"…This is going to cost them a _lot_ more," he said grumpily, eyeing the all of the blood.

-.-.-

Next Chapter: As the adults sleep off their exciting night and generally recuperate, the kids decide to do some exploring on their own. Seishirou insists on finding the giant fish in Ame, while Tomozou insists that there aren't any. Hitomi's mad at him, however, and will back her brother; this results in a search for the giant fish in Amegakure! ...And plenty of fighting along the way.


	23. The Giant Fish In Ame

Seishirou awoke as it felt like he was being hung upside-down. He blinked a few times, adjusting to the fact that his vision was the back of someone's shirt. "Hey--?"

"Put us down! We're _not_ children!" Tomozou was awake too, then. Seishirou figured out that he'd been picked up and thrown over someone's shoulder; judging by the black hair, probably Kakuzu.

"You two sure act like it. Falling asleep in the middle of your 'work'? Very immature," Kakuzu replied, a hint of amusement in his voice. Just a hint, though; he sounded mostly grumpy. "Usually genin don't even manage that feat. How old did you two say you were?"

"Put us down, now," Seishirou commanded, pushing himself off of the man's back. He only succeeded in raising his head high enough to hit it on the doorframe as they exited the library. He immediately ducked back down, rubbing his head. "You did that on purpose!"

"Me? Never. Wouldn't dream of doing such a thing." Even Tomozou had a snicker at Seishirou's expense. The ginger-haired boy huffed and crossed his arms--or attempted to, since being carried like that made most of his arm gestures pretty useless.

"Where are we going?"

"I'm going to go up to the top floor and throw you both from the roof."

"Then why are you going _down_stairs?" Tomozou asked. Kakuzu responded by dropping him on said stairs, watching as he tumbled gracelessly the rest of the way. Seishirou only had that much of a warning before he, too, was dropped. Luckily, that was all he had needed. He landed on his feet, to some degree, but at least managed to stay upright.

"You're a jerk," he told him, jumping out of the way when Kakuzu reached over to push him down the stairs, too.

"Asshole!" Tomozou chimed in from the bottom.

"Bastard," Seishirou added.

"Motherfu--"

"Are you two channeling Hidan or are you normally this foulmouthed?" Kakuzu interrupted, annoyed. "Get back to bed before I throttle both of you."

"You wouldn't!" Seishirou scoffed, once again dodging as the Akatsuki member made a grab for him. He jumped down the stairs, landing lightly beside Tomozou, who was just then getting up. "Everyone would get pissed at you for killing us."

"Who is this 'everyone'? Your parents, who are too busy getting used by the Bijuu to worry about you?"

"Obviously Kakuzu-san wouldn't kill us. He wouldn't dare touch the son of the Leader, right, Sei?" Tomozou asked with an exaggerated air of indifference.

"Oh, of _course_ not. I must remind him too much of my dad," Seishirou agreed arrogantly, even going as far as to flip his ponytail over his shoulder.

"He's just another inbred Akatsuki pet--"

"I am going to kill the both of you!" Kakuzu snarled, feigning a lunge. Predictably, the boys ran for it, laughing nervously as they fled. Kakuzu regained his composure and straightened his uniform, snorting. "Conceited little brats," he muttered. "I liked them better when they were ignorant."

-.-.-

As the sun rose in the eastern sky and the rain started to lessen slightly, Tomozou figured out that all of the adults were still sleeping. They were going to continue sleeping, too, he concluded, because, "They must have been up all night. Doing stuff. They probably won't wake up for another few hours, if at all."

"How do _you_ know?" Seishirou asked, crossing his arms in disbelief.

Tomozou grinned and held up three fingers. "I have three extra senses, in addition to the regulars like sight and hearing. Firstly, I am a shinobi, and in that, I know when there's danger about." He put down one finger. "Secondly, I know when there's something that's spicy around."

"Oh yeah. I keep meaning to ask you about that…"

"It's a secret. Thirdly!" Tomozou continued quickly, holding up his last finger, "I know whenever my guardians are going to be not-guarding-me. You could call it a 'trouble sense'. I know exactly when the opportune time is."

"Opportune time for _what_?"

"Do you do nothing but question my authority?" Tomozou finally snapped, reaching over to pull Seishirou's hair. The older of the two ducked out of his grasp, though.

"_Your_ authority? Who is the son of the Leader of the Akatsuki, huh?"

"So what? I don't care about the Akatsuki."

"I'm also older."

"Yeah, well, I can kick your ass any day of the week, so _I'm_ in charge."

"No you can't," Seishirou growled, narrowing his eyes. "That was a lucky chance, that first time."

"No it wasn't!" Tomozou sang, placing his hands on his hips. "You were already on guard, and I won."

This, naturally, degraded into a scuffle soon enough. Although it was a closer match between the two than their first meeting, Tomozou still ended up on top--literally. He sat on Seishirou's back, pinning his hands to the ground with his feet.

"Get off of me. Let's go get Hitomi-chan."

"Why do we need to get her?"

"…She's part of our team, for one," Seishirou replied, suspicious. "Why don't you want to fetch her?"

"She's just… I don't know. Don't you get tired of babysitting her all the time?" Tomozou asked. Part of it was genuine curiosity. He didn't have any siblings, even adopted, and while it wasn't like he disliked Hitomi, he wondered why Seishirou liked her so much. She wasn't a strong ninja--she wasn't even a ninja!--and she usually slowed them down, more often than not.

"No, not really. Come on, let's go get her. Then we can go out."

"Out where?"

"Exploring Amegakure, where else? We don't have any escorts this time."

"Right." Tomozou was okay with that idea, though he still wasn't sure about Hitomi. She just seemed so… fragile. Frail. Not at all suitable for exploring potentially dangerous places on their own.

They checked Hitomi's room, but it was empty. Her stuffed chicken was gone, however, signaling that she was probably safe. "Where is she?"

"Maybe she's with Yukina-chan," Tomozou suggested slyly. Seishirou set his mouth in a thin line, trying valiantly not to blush.

"I'm not sneaking into her room if she is."

"Why not? You could test your ninja skills--and who knows? Maybe Yukina-chan sleeps in lingerie."

"If Hitomi-chan's in there, why would she be dressed like that?!"

"You're blushing, you're blushing!" Tomozou cackled. The other boy hit him in the shoulder, scowling. "Okay, maybe I'm kidding. Yukina-chan and Aoko-chan probably spirited her away somewhere."

"How are we going to find them, then?" Seishirou asked flatly.

"I guess we won't. We'll have to strike out on our own without Hitomi-san." He laced his fingers behind his head, already heading out the door.

"Hold it. _Why_ are you so insistent on going without Hitomi-chan?"

"I think she's mad at me. I want to avoid a conflict," he answered diplomatically, eyes closed.

"Why the hell would she be mad at you?!"

"Are you going to baby-sit her for the rest of your life? Or her life?" Tomozou asked instead. "You can't keep sticking your nose in her business." _There, that ought to keep him out of this_, he thought, pleased with himself.

But he had underestimated Seishirou's protectiveness. "Tell me what the hell you did to her." His voice was low, hardly more than a growl.

"Nothing. I just parted with her on less than favorable terms. And seeing how she holds a grudge against anyone who doesn't follow her rules, she's probably mad at me for it. That's all." Tomozou turned on one foot, holding his gloved hands up in his defense. Predictably, Seishirou was glaring at him. He grinned in response. "That's all. Now get your nose out of my business. And hers."

He marched off, not caring whether or not Seishirou followed him. Sure, he was fun to hang around with, but Tomozou's mischief didn't depend on his presence. Tomozou usually functioned better on his own, anyway. It was he, himself, who figured out Seishirou's parents first, right?

After just a few steps, he heard Seishirou start following.

It was on the first floor that they ran into Hitomi. She was shutting a door quietly behind her, and turned just in time to nearly run into Tomozou. She squeaked and backed up again immediately, pressing herself against the door, face red. She was glaring at him, he noticed. That calmed into a faint frown, however, when she caught sight of Seishirou behind him.

"Where are you two going?" she asked in a whisper. Her words were directed entirely to her adoptive brother.

"We were looking for you. Why are we whispering?"

"Aoko is asleep. I snuck out," she responded blithely, placing her hand on the doorknob.

"The rest of the adults are asleep, too," Tomozou chimed in. Hitomi spared him a flat, discouraging look, and then turned back to Seishirou, completely ignoring his input. He scowled, crossing his arms. Sure, he had known she'd been mad, but now she was just being childish.

"What will we do today?" she asked Seishirou.

He shrugged, sighing. "I don't know… Explore Ame? We haven't seen much of the city itself, after all--"

"I like that idea," she decided firmly, only because it had been the ginger-haired boy who had suggested it.

They raided a coat closet for some raincoats, pulled on their shoes, and traipsed out into the rain. Tomozou let Seishirou lead the way, since Hitomi would probably throw a fit and leave if she was forced to follow Tomozou instead. He just wanted to avoid a scene, or so he told himself. Her attitude towards him was really beginning to piss him off, though…

"Where are we going?"

"City limits. I want to see some of the countryside," Seishirou replied, tugging his hood down lower. That answer didn't satisfy him, however. Tomozou had wanted to explore the city itself, too, but he couldn't voice his opinion without Hitomi jumping down his throat. That _really_ pissed him off; she wasn't even _doing_ anything yet she was still blocking him pretty effortlessly.

He stewed all the way to where Seishirou was leading them. As they had crossed most of the city and passed through a small ring of forest, this took nearly an hour. Despite their raincoats, all three were pretty much soaked; not completely, at least not yet, but approaching soaked rapidly. This did nothing to help Tomozou's mood. He liked water, yes, but only on his own terms.

Fortunately, the rain lessened the further they got from Amegakure. It was merely sprinkling when Seishirou announced that they would stop. They were on the shore of a great, black lake, out of the trees and cover.

"What are we going to do _here_?" Tomozou asked, ignoring Hitomi's snort of disapproval at his speaking.

"Hitomi-chan needs to practice her water-walking, and I was thinking we could look around. Kirigakure never had lakes this big… I wonder what would be in it…" Seishirou trailed off, looking down at the dark water.

Tomozou shook his head. "You can't possibly be thinking of going swimming in that. It's not _that_ warm out."

"No, I wasn't!" he snapped irritably, jerking his head back to glare at him. "I just wanted to walk out there and see if I could see any fish. _You_ may have been here before, but _we_ haven't. I don't want any more foreign animal surprises like that mountain goat in Iwa."

"There's no giant fish in Ame," Tomozou deadpanned.

"Look!" Hitomi broke in, pointing out across the lake. Both boys turned, temporarily forgetting their argument. Towards the middle, there was something light in color. It was hardly more than a dot against the black of the water, blurred from the rain and distance.

"What is _that_?"

"It's not a giant fish."

"I know that!"

-.-.-

As the boys argued, Hitomi clambered down to the shore. The water was completely calm, save for the raindrops. She tested it with her foot--it _had_ been awhile since she had walked on water, and hadn't tried it at all after her accident--and was relieved to find that it was very easy to walk on. Even up close, the water was dark and murky. Just a few feet out from the shore, and she couldn't see the bottom of the lake anymore.

The other two hastily caught up with her once they realized she was missing. Hitomi sniffed at their lack of awareness (particularly Tomozou's). The lake seemed much larger once they got out over it, and it got significantly colder as well. She pulled her coat closer around her.

"I think… I think it is some sort of bird," Hitomi called back to her escorts. The creature occasionally would duck down under the water, presumably fishing. Which meant that there _were_ fish in the lake… just maybe not giant ones.

"It could be a heron. They like to feed around lakes," Tomozou suggested.

"Those are storks, not herons," Seishirou replied flatly.

"They're the same thing, idiot!"

"No they're not! Storks have curved beaks, and herons have straight beaks."

"Otherwise they're the same--!"

"Not-uh! I'm not going to get into an argument about the classification of birds with you, though."

"You're just saying that because you're wrong."

"No I'm not!"

Hitomi sighed, trying to block them out. She instead concentrated on the bird; Seishirou was right in the fact that they didn't want any more surprises like the Iwa animals. Plus, who knew? Maybe the heron-stork would be interesting, or intelligent.

_Or maybe we could eat it_, Hitomi thought as her stomach growled loudly. Hopefully no one else heard it over the rain. She hadn't gotten the chance to eat breakfast. Actually, she hadn't eaten much of anything since they arrived in Ame. The food was too weird.

Since the boys were arguing, they didn't notice it. Hitomi did, though, and when she did, she stopped for a few moments. They were nearly to the middle of the lake, and the bird hadn't grown any closer. At first, she suspected genjutsu, but told herself that there was no one around to cast it. Even if there was, what purpose would it serve?

Her second guess was correct: the bird was actually on the _far_ side of the lake, and was just larger than they had initially thought.

Hitomi resumed walking, albeit at a slower, more cautious pace. A giant bird wouldn't be fun to get into a fight with. Neither Seishirou nor Tomozou noticed her pause, since they were still too busy arguing about technicalities.

Soon, however, even they noticed it. "That's… a big bird, isn't it?" Seishirou asked haltingly, eyes wide. Hitomi just nodded.

Then, they were close enough to make out several details. The first was that the bird was well over twice any of their height. It was white in color, though it had a black belly and legs. The bird craned its long neck down, dipping its dark beak into the water. It fished around for a few moments, and then came up with a very fat frog. The hapless prey gave a single croak before it was swallowed whole. The frog had been knee-high to any of the kids.

They skirted around the bird, crouching down over the water. The bird either didn't notice them or didn't care. "What kind of bird is that?" Seishirou whispered.

"How should I know?" Tomozou whispered back, glaring at him.

"You're the one who's been to Ame before!" Soon, the argument was back in full swing.

Hitomi slowly crawled away from them, half-scared that they'd get themselves discovered, half-curious about the bird. The largest bird she'd ever seen was a hawk someone had summoned in Kiri to show her class, and she had been amazed when it was about shoulder-high to the man. This bird was _huge_, taller than any person alive. Kakuzu might've come up to the bird's wing, she decided after much study.

_That could easily pick me up and carry me off_, she noted, and backed up a few paces to give it more room. There was a comfortable ten meters between the bird and her, and she was closer to the shore than open water. That was good, since she was fairly sure that if she was chased by the giant heron-stork, she'd panic and wouldn't be able to run on water.

The bird took a step out towards the lake, carefully picking its way through whatever lay underneath the water. It dipped its head under the water fully this time, and came up with a rather large fish. It wasn't _quite_ a giant one, but it was still fairly large: Seishirou was half-right.

Then the bird turned, fish in its beak, and caught Hitomi's eye. She shrunk back in alarm; there was a definite intelligence in its gaze. It cocked its head to one side, and then took one large step towards her, completely closing the gap between them. It craned its head down at an angle until it was nearly eye-level with her, its sharp beak resting lightly on the top of her head.

A kunai suddenly clicked against its beak, bouncing off after leaving a scratch. The bird (and Hitomi) shrieked, raising its wings and flapping downward. The downdraft nearly sent Hitomi under the water. The bird leapt over to the shore, dropping its fish, and then turned to glare at the boys. Hitomi scrambled over to them, hiding behind Seishirou.

The bird eyed them warily for several moments before it straightened its head. Then, with what was probably the bird equivalent of a snort of disdain, it walked regally off.

"Are you okay?" Seishirou asked worriedly, turning around to inspect his sister. Hitomi felt shaken, but otherwise fine.

"Why did it attack you?"

"It did not--I do not think it meant to attack me." She composed herself before addressing Tomozou again. It was one thing to act scared in front of Seishirou, but quite another to act it in front of _him_. "It noticed me, and the kunai startled it. That was all."

She was going to say more when she noticed that there was hair in her eyes. Since it was normally held back by her barrettes, she grumpily assumed that the bird had messed it up as it flapped its wings. Hitomi began taking out her barrettes and combing through her hair, frowning, watching the boys lapse into their own discussion again. That had been happening more and more often.

…_Seishirou has never been this talkative with Tomozou before. Did something happen?_ she thought, sticking her barrettes in her mouth to hold them. _Yesterday, Seishirou was acting ill, and now he seems fine. Tomozou was also acting _odd_ yesterday._ She felt her face heat up just thinking about it. Their behavior was certainly linked, though.

Hitomi decided she was satisfied with her hair; nothing felt unduly out of place, and her barrettes held it all out of her eyes once more. Her hair was the least of her worries, though, when she saw that her hands came away with blood.

"Um, Seishirou?" she called in a high voice, breaking her brother out of his hissed argument with Tomozou. "C-Can you come look at my head?"

"Sure." She obediently bent her head so that he could inspect it. Almost immediately, Seishirou swore and placed a hand on either side of her head, raising her eyes until he could look at her. "You don't _look_ like you have a concussion. Do you have blurry vision?"

"Your medical prowess astounds me," Tomozou said dryly as Hitomi shook her head.

"At least he is trying to help. You are not doing anything except getting in the way," she snapped, trying to turn her head to glare at him. Seishirou held her still, however.

"You'll have to forgive me if I'm not just another mother hen for you."

"Tomozou, just shut _up_. What is with you lately?" Seishirou asked harshly, interrupting. Hitomi rolled her eyes; so _he_ could argue all he wanted with Tomozou, but she couldn't? How mean. When he didn't get a response, Seishirou returned his attention to her. "…Doesn't look like there's any damage aside from the wound itself… And maybe some irritability. We better head back to Ame, though. Head wounds bleed a lot, and now you're getting soaked, too."

"Hey, look." Seishirou finally let go of her head, and both turned to look at what Tomozou was pointing at. It was a fish--no, _the_ fish that the bird had had in its beak and dropped. It was floating on its side, bleeding freely from a wound from the bird. It was still breathing, opening and closing its mouth as it struggled to flee from Tomozou. He poked it with his foot, then turned and grinned at them.

Hitomi felt repulsed by it. Not only was it rather a mess, but its eyes weren't blinking, and it was bleeding out of the gills, too. "Just… kill it already. Put it out of its misery," she said weakly. _The bird did that. That could have been me_, she couldn't help but think.

"Why? It's going to die, anyway. Why do they float when they're dead?" Tomozou asked, nudging it again.

"Kill it already!" Hitomi insisted, turning away. Seishirou started walking towards it, though, and she reached out to grab his hand. He just pulled her along with him, though, much to her annoyance. By the time he succeeded in dragging her closer, the fish was nearly dead.

"What's your problem?" Tomozou asked, tilting his head to one side.

"What's yours?!" Seishirou snapped in reply. "You've had your fun poking the flipping fish, now kill it!"

"It's going to die anyway. Why get my gloves dirty?" Now he seemed to want to argue for the sake of it. He crouched down beside the fish, pulling his sword out and poking it with that. "It's just a _fish_. Why're you two getting so worked up over it?"

"You're upsetting my sister," Seishirou said in a low voice.

"She's not--" Tomozou didn't get the opportunity to finish, because at that moment, Hitomi ran up to him and pushed him into the water. He flailed for a brief moment before going under; she, during that, had taken the sword from his hand and plunged it through the fish's eye. It died immediately.

"You two have issues, you know that?" Seishirou said, either angry or surprised. She wasn't sure which. Hitomi just ran her wrist over her eyes. "I'm serious! Hitomi-chan, you didn't have to push him in--"

"He was being cruel! It was in pain!" she snapped, pulling the sword out of the dead fish.

"Hitomi-chan… It _was_ just a fish…" He seemed to deflate at her words, and instead looked around for Tomozou. He hadn't surfaced yet. "…What happened yesterday between you two? You wouldn't have pushed him if you weren't mad at him."

"He was acting cruel, just like now."

"Are you comparing yourself to a dead fish?"

"No!"

"Then I don't get how he can be cruel to you. At least not in any way that you couldn't fight back against. Where _is_ he? He should have come up by now."

"I do not care where he is. I hope he drowns," she said primly, half sincere. While she would be happy if he just disappeared, she wasn't sure she actually wished for him to die. Death was permanent, after all, and if he merely disappeared, there'd always be the slight chance that he could come back if she changed her mind about him.

"I'm serious. Hitomi-chan, what if he _does_ die?" Seishirou turned to her, alarm written in his grey eyes.

Hitomi fidgeted nervously with Tomozou's sword. "…He would not die so easily," she mumbled, still rebellious. If he was doing this just to get her worried, she swore that she'd take the blade and drive it through his skull. "The average jounin can hold his breath for--"

"Tomozou is not a jounin! He's probably not even a chuunin. I'm going in after him." Before Seishirou could act, however, with a splash, Tomozou resurfaced by Hitomi's feet. She gave a squeal and jumped away from him, clinging to her brother.

"There _are_ giant fish in Ame!" Tomozou said excitedly, grinning broadly.

-.-.-

The kids returned to Ame, carrying two giant fish. Hitomi wouldn't touch the one the bird killed, so they ignored that one and the boys each caught their own. Seishirou had gotten the idea of cooking the fish into his head, and dragged the other two along with him. "Hitomi-chan, you have practice cooking, don't you? We could filet one, or make some sort of stew, or--"

"Where are we going to find a kitchen large enough to cook something like these?" she asked flatly, walking between the boys. Seishirou had sacrificed his raincoat to carry the fish in, and it took both of them to make sure it didn't drag. Even so, it was hard, and more than once they dropped them.

"What kind of fish are these, anyway?" Tomozou asked curiously.

"Big ones," Seishirou replied. "I hope they're good."

"I hope they are not poisonous…" Hitomi mumbled darkly. "…I think soup or stew would be the best thing to do. Then we will need only one, albeit large, pot to cook with."

"Stew it is!" Seishirou said happily.

"Where are we going to find seasonings and other ingredients?" she asked, keeping him tethered to reality.

"We could look in Dai-sama's tower. There has to be a kitchen there somewhere, with plenty of stuff like that," Tomozou answered, earning himself a scowl. He winced, trying not to snap at her. He didn't want to ruin their fish meal, or get into a fight with her.

"Agreed," Seishirou said obliviously, still grinning.

It took a bit longer for them to carry the fish back to the tower. Hitomi went on ahead to scout out the area and head off any adults, but her job soon proved itself to be useless; everyone was still asleep, apparently. They managed to sneak into the kitchens without getting caught, and Hitomi soon produced a large pot in which they could cook the fish. "Maybe they cook fish this large often?" she suggested as they took a few minutes to stare at the huge pot. "…Help me fill it with water."

"How are we going to do that?" In unison, the three of them turned to the sinks. The faucets were at waist-level. The pot's rim was over their heads.

Eventually, they figured out how to accomplish such a feat. If they turned on the water, the boys knew enough water jutsus in order to move it from point A to point B. Their second problem came when it was time to put the fish in the water. "…We should have put them in first," Hitomi sighed, defeated. So they emptied out the pot, set it on its side, and then rolled the fish in.

It took a bit of time, but after repeating that process a third time in order to move the pot to a large, open fireplace, they were already tired of trying to cook. Seishirou lit a fire while Tomozou and Hitomi tried to catch their breaths after moving the fish again. "…This isn't fun anymore," he complained, shaking hair out of his eyes.

"We only need to stir it and wait for it to cook now, though," Seishirou pleaded. He had invested too much in this meal of theirs to just give up. "And add in some seasonings! Come on, what do you guys want it to taste like?"

"Spicy," Tomozou answered at once, with a contented sigh.

"I do not want it overly spicy," Hitomi replied with a glance in his direction.

"It won't be overly spicy. I didn't say overly spicy."

"It does not need to be spicy at all."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?" she asked quietly, a dangerous glint in her white eyes. Tomozou attempted to stare her down, but only for a brief moment.

He looked away, and ground out, "Nevermind."

"We will need carrots," she said triumphantly, turning back to Seishirou. "…Hmm, and potatoes. I miss potatoes. No eggs." She stuck out her tongue at the thought of that so-called stir fry. "I will also require onions, peppers," Tomozou looked up hopefully at the word, but she ignored that, "Tomatoes, parsley, salt and pepper…"

"What recipe are you going to use?" Seishirou asked excitedly, already rummaging around in a few of the cupboards for any of the ingredients.

"Mother's…" Hitomi admitted.

Tomozou watched in bewilderment as the mood went from high to low in a flash. "W-Well, let's get those ingredients," he said briskly, giving Seishirou a shove to get him back into action. It seemed to do the trick, though he noticed that Hitomi was still looking rather melancholic, standing there by the pot. He was still a little annoyed with her, though, so he figured she could handle herself.

They ended up giving her a stool and a large spoon to stir with, while they ended up being her servants and bringing her whatever she requested from atop her pedestal. "Cream, and olive oil," she asked of Tomozou, while sweetly saying, "Would you please chop those carrots?" to her brother. Tomozou was the one sent to find things and generally run around the entire kitchen a few times looking for them, while Seishirou had the easy job of cutting things or bringing them to her from the cutting board. Needless to say, it didn't take very long for him to figure out that she was purposely giving him the harder jobs.

By the time the soup was just about done, Tomozou was fuming, Hitomi was smirking to herself, and Seishirou was making sure to stay on the opposite side of the room. War probably would've erupted, had Aoko not wandered down into the kitchen to see what was going on. She rubbed her green eyes tiredly, taking in the scene with a practiced precision. "…Soup?" she asked in lieu of anything more aggressive.

"Kiri fish soup," Hitomi replied happily. "Would you like some? It is almost done."

"Sure." Aoko retrieved Seishirou from the far end of the room and dragged him over to one of the counters. "What kind of fish did you guys use? I can't remember what we had in here…" She beamed at Tomozou and Hitomi, obviously trying to lighten the mood. When that had no effect, she stopped smiling and instead busied herself with retrieving bowls and spoons. She pulled Seishirou along behind her, and while Hitomi chattered on about how she wished she could have used an actual Kiri fish, Aoko hissed, "What's up with them?"

"They're fighting," he replied vaguely, and that was all the answer Aoko needed. "Why is everyone sleeping in so late? It's nearly evening."

Hitomi visibly stiffened, pausing in her stirring for a few seconds. Aoko laughed nervously and offered, "W-Well, you know what? Yukina-chan and I were up really late last night planning out… what we're going to do when we find the Bijuu! Yeah! I-I don't know about your father and those Akatsuki-nin, though. You know how they keep to themselves…"

The boys looked at one another, wondering what the cover-up was for.

"The food is done!" Hitomi called in a high voice. No one missed Aoko's sigh of relief. The soup-stew--no one was quite sure what it was supposed to be by the end of it, and while Seishirou had the utmost faith in his sister's cooking, he knew it looked nothing like what their mother used to make--was ladled out and everyone sat around the counter for a few moments, waiting for someone else to be the first to try it.

"…What's going on in here?" Kakuzu, also drawn by the scent and the racket, showed up at the most opportune time.

"Dinner! Want some? Good. It's really delicious," Aoko said at once, handing over her untouched bowl. Hitomi huffed and crossed her arms. Kakuzu stared down at it, then walked over and dumped it down the sink.

"Not on your life," he said dryly. "I have no idea what the hell was in that, and for all I knew, you could be trying to poison me."

Aoko tried to look indignant (whereas Hitomi really was). "Why would any of us try to poison you?"

"Hey, Tomozou." As the girls pestered Kakuzu to try it, Seishirou leaned over conspiratorially to his partner in crime. The pink-haired boy looked up dully, still fishing around with his spoon in the soup-stew. "If you want to get back into Hitomi-chan's good books, try the soup first and tell her how delicious it is."

"_What_? No! I'd like to live to see my teenage years, you know," he snapped at once.

"Come on. You know it's not poisoned, and we all helped with it. It might look a little… foul, but it smells really good, doesn't it?" Seishirou put on his best angry face and leaned in closer. "Otherwise, Hitomi-chan's gonna be angry at you forever. Do you want that?"

"At least I'll live longer that way." Now bent on not tasting it, Tomozou set his spoon in the bowl and pushed them both away from him.

"Try it."

"No."

"Now."

"No!"

Seishirou's patience finally snapped and he grabbed Tomozou's spoon. "This is going up your nose or in your mouth. Your choice." The other responded by closing his mouth in a firm line and turning away. "You made your choice." Instead of attempting to shove the spoon up his nose--luckily for him--Seishirou reached over and pinched his nose, and then put it in his mouth when he opened it to breathe. "Swallow or suffocate," he said with a bright smile.

Meanwhile, Kakuzu was _still_ arguing with the girls about whether or not he should try it. "I don't know what is in it. Fish stew? What kind of fish, hm?"

"Ame fish," Hitomi hedged, looking down at her lap. "Two of them, very large. There was a bird eating them, so they could not have been poisonous--" She was interrupted by coughing and spluttering. Tomozou had punched Seishirou in the stomach, making him release the spoon, and nearly choked on the soup in the process. Now both boys were trying to regain their breath, eyes watery.

"…Uh-huh. I'm not eating that shit," Kakuzu declared flatly, with a note of finality.

-.-.-

"Come on, Hitomi-chan. We're sorry. _Aren't_ we, Tomozou?"

"Eh."

"I am not forgiving you two. Kakuzu called it _shit_."

"Don't swear."

"I was quoting! He called it that!" Hitomi snarled, nearly in tears. The three of them were sitting on the roof. She had tried to escape from them, but of course they followed, and she had quickly run out of stairs to flee to. Now, they were situated just a couple of yards away: the closest they could get without making her move. They didn't want her to walk any more on the slick roof, so they kept still.

"Yeah, well, Kakuzu-san is foul-mouthed anyway, so--"

"Seishirou, if he thinks we were trying to poison him, is he going to teach us ninjutsu?" Hitomi deadpanned, turning to him. She wiped a lock of wet hair angrily out of her eyes. "Stupid rain…"

Seishirou knew it was meant to be an innocent, if mad, remark, but he still couldn't help but get annoyed at it. "Hey, this rain is one of the last things the Akatsuki left behind for Ame."

"So? The Akatsuki has been reduced to a sparse few shinobi, and they are all jerks." She sat down and pulled her knees up to her chest, remembered she was wearing a skirt, and then let her feet dangle over the edge of the roof instead. "This city is full of jerks."

"We're all jerks, huh?" Seishirou asked, taking the chance to take a few steps closer. Tomozou he pulled along behind him. He was the cause of most of this, so if they were going to apologize, then he was going to be there, too. "If we were jerks we wouldn't have made that soup with you."

"You probably sabotaged it," she muttered mutinously, her voice nearly lost in the rain.

"Yeah, that's _totally_ it. We had nothing better to do but ruin _your_ day. Because we live to please you, right, Hitomi-san?" Tomozou asked critically. Seishirou turned back and shushed him, but the younger boy would have none of it. "I have put up with your shit all day, but now you're just being downright bitchy. Look, I'm sorry for kissing you, but that's all I'm sorry for, got it? So if you're still mad at me after that, I'm giving you fair warning: I'm going to fight back."

Hitomi stared at him, eyes large. Seishirou, too, stared, though probably more because he called her bitchy than anything else. Tomozou, for his part, just crossed his arms and glared at them both. He was fed up with the both of them. Seishirou was always just trying to please everyone (but primarily Hitomi), and Hitomi seemed to be perfectly intent on being as bratty as humanly possible.

For a long, awkward silence, it was unusually loud. The rain on the shingles drummed merrily, at odds with the tension in the situation. When it became apparent that no one was going to say anything, Tomozou turned and left. He had done his part. If he would get hell for it, then so be it.

-.-.-

Next Chapter: We check in with the Jinchuuriki fodder and see how they're doing. What's this? More Bijuu problems? At least it seems they've come up with a feasible escape attempt...


	24. A Plan of Escape

Hinata sighed, leaning against Deidara's shoulder. They were supposed to be sleeping. She was fairly certain everyone else was, anyway.

She couldn't sleep, however.

She couldn't sleep because of the nightmares.

_I haven't had chronic nightmares in years_, she thought, smiling to herself. _Itachi-senpai last gave me them…_ Looking back, though, there were probably a lot of things she ought to have had nightmares about, but didn't. Hinata rotated and managed to get his arm over her shoulders so that she could use his chest as a pillow. Deidara murmured something in his sleep but didn't wake. Hinata tried closing her eyes again, but as tired as she was, she just couldn't get herself to sleep.

She wasn't even having logical nightmares: they didn't directly concern the Bijuu, or what might've happened to her children, or what the future might hold for all of them. She merely dreamt about Naruto.

_I haven't thought about him in awhile_, she thought dismally. In almost all of her nightmares, she remembered the last time she had seen him alive, and his face after his death. She thought about him for the first time in years outside the context of her nightmares. He had been the only Jinchuuriki she really knew, since she could barely call Gaara an acquaintance (_or would target be a more fitting term?_ she wondered).

She knew that Naruto had been the one in control of the Kyuubi. At least for the most part, he had been. But that's not what the Bijuu now were planning. They were smarter now, and they weren't going to be putting any restraining seals on their new bodies. Hinata would be the one in a prison inside her own body. Or would her mind and soul die entirely? She wasn't sure, and she definitely didn't want to find out.

"Can't sleep, yeah?" Hinata jumped at Deidara's whisper. He opened his eyes, grinning a little at her indignant blush. "You haven't been this snuggly since your nightmares…"

"I am having a bit of trouble sleeping," she admitted quietly, looking at the other three sleeping. "But it's not nightmares."

"Liar," he said simply. She didn't bother denying it. He knew her far too well. "What're you dreaming about this time, yeah? Don't tell me it's Uchiha…"

"No. It's not." She didn't want to tell him the truth about it, though she didn't know why. It seemed almost silly now. "…You don't have children, so you wouldn't understand."

"Ah. Don't worry, they're all right. They have Sasori-danna, yeah? And Neji, and who knows who else." The blonde sighed and closed his eyes again, shifting so that he faced her. "If you need to talk, you know, even if it's about the kids… I'm here. I've always been here, Bya-chan."

She smiled at the nickname. "I know. Thank you." She wiggled closer and gave him a kiss on the cheek before wrapping her arms around his neck. "Goodnight, Deidara-kun."

"Goodnight. This time, don't have nightmares, yeah."

"I won't," she said, still smiling, and fell asleep. She still had nightmares.

-.-.-

Ever since the capture of Sasuke and Suigetsu and the death of Karin, they had been hiding out in a new location. It was impossible to tell where they were, try as they might. The Shichibi taunted them with the information whenever it slunk by and got into one of its arguments with Deidara.

"They're treating us like pets," Suigetsu said irritably. Sasuke nodded in agreement, but otherwise, he got no response from the other captives. "Doesn't that bother you? They're playing with us. Taunting us. They know we can't do a damn thing--"

"Calm down, Suigetsu," Sasuke ordered. Suigetsu, of course, did nothing of the sort. He continued pacing and wringing his hands. It was a bad habit he'd picked up when he first figured out that he missed his swords and other various weapons. Sasuke stuck out his leg to trip him, but like any good ninja, he hopped over it and resumed his pacing.

"Can you count, Sasuke? Five. Five of us in here, and there are seven demons." He held up seven fingers. "They only need two more bodies, and then we're all dead. Doesn't that make you a _little_ worried?"

"You're wrong, you know. Only a goddamn idiot would think that they're waiting just for that," Hidan announced dryly. Suigetsu turned and stared at him, frowning in confusion. Hidan grinned roguishly, gesturing with his arm. "It's pretty obvious, if you know what signs to look for. Jashin-sama granted me this foresight, so you had all better get down on your knees and pay him some pretty fucking bloody homage for this."

Sasuke and Suigetsu exchanged a look. They had never known Hidan very well before, but they had gotten used to his ramblings, swearing, and heathenish ways in the time they'd been imprisoned together. Usually, they ignored him, but if he was actually on to something… "I'll tell you what," Suigetsu said with a sharp-toothed smile, "If we get out of here because of this information, I'll sacrifice a whole village to Jashin."

"Oh, this information isn't going to get us shit. If anything, it's going to kill us even faster." Hidan shrugged--a strange sight for a man with one arm--and leaned back against the wall of the cell.

"Please, just tell us," Hinata said tiredly, rubbing at her eyes.

Hidan considered this. He must have decided to share his godly information with the heathens, because he informed them, "The Bijuu are out to kill one another."

This declaration was met with silence. Suigetsu saw Hinata and Deidara exchange a glance out of the corner of his eye.

"What? It's true," Hidan snapped at their lack of response. "Trust me. I'm _always_ fighting with Kakuzu, that fucker, and I know how we act. It's like a cat and mouse, and we always wait and watch each other until we find out who is the cat's bitch, right? The Bijuu are doing that. Only they're farther along, so I guess they must have already figured out the unlucky bastard's who's gonna get killed."

"It will be the Yonbi, yeah," Deidara said suddenly, eyes widening in realization. He turned to Hinata in obvious dismay. "It will be the Yonbi, won't it? The higher ones will increase the gap between them and the three with less tails, yeah."

"The Gobi and Rokubi are both already dead," Suigetsu agreed darkly. "But why would they cut their own team? And if they're hell bent on doing so, why not take out the weakest?"

"Because the three upper-classed ones want to control the three weakest. Remember, they're only weak by Bijuu standards. Even the Ichibi is a formidable match for any single shinobi," Sasuke pointed out. "They are going to use them as pawns and underlings."

"They'll still need one more body!" Hinata said in a high voice. She wrung her hands, looking between the men worriedly. "And that's _if_ they manage to kill the Yonbi. The Rokubi took _four_ ninja to completely kill, and that's one Akatsuki member in the mix."

"Sasori didn't do much," Suigetsu interjected dryly, placing a hand on his hip. "…Though I see your point. It would take an Akatsuki pair to take out the Yonbi, more likely than not. There aren't any of those left."

"No, you're underestimating us," Deidara said hotly. "Remember, we took down each demon one at a time, yeah."

"That was when they were either hindered by a Jinchuuriki or too stupid to know their own strength," Sasuke replied savagely. The two glared at each other, giving off a significant amount of killing intent. Hinata stood up to literally step between them, but Suigetsu beat her to it. He walked over to Sasuke and yanked him backwards by the shirt collar. The last Uchiha spared him a disdainful look, but that was all.

"The point is that we now have even less time to get out of here," Hinata said soothingly, pulling Deidara back as well. Hidan just laughed at the argument. "The last body they go for will likely be Kakuzu, since no one's sure if Sasori even qualifies as a vessel for anything."

"Kakuzu could easily take out the Yonbi. He's not cornered by his own jutsu," Hidan said, grinning at Deidara.

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"If you branched out from your gay-ass art once in awhile, maybe you'd realize--"

"You're one to talk, Jashin-bitch--"

"Both of you, shut up!" Hinata snapped. Deidara immediately did so; Hidan probably only quieted because of surprise. "Hidan, thank you for the information. Now we all need to come up with a way to bypass this, escape, or take out as many of the Bijuu as possible when we go out."

"Just have the faggot explode."

"I can't explode without any _clay_, yeah."

"…Actually…" Sasuke inadvertently broke up the impending argument. He looked to be deep in thought, not even paying attention to the others at that point. His black hair shielded most of his face, except for a small frown. "…Deidara, you can move through these stone walls quiet easily, can't you?"

"I know where this is going, and it won't work, yeah," the blonde replied flatly.

Sasuke looked up at him, smirking, Sharingan activated. "Can you carry anyone with you?" he asked.

"One person, probably…" He grimaced a little at the red eyes.

"If I copy your technique, then we can get four people out of here."

"And then it's death for the last person, yeah. Plus, there's no guarantee we could even get out, yeah. _I_ might be able to, but carrying a person and avoiding the Shichibi and other Bijuu? Pretty difficult, even for _me_, yeah." Contrary to his words, however, there was a glint in his eyes. "But…" he murmured, smiling to himself as he thought it over.

"…But?" Suigetsu prompted.

"It's a lot easier the less chakra the person I'm taking with has. That one's in our favor, yeah. Plus, I'm pretty good at moving through stone, so I wouldn't waste that much chakra with it. Sasuke, you--"

"Don't worry about me. I haven't been in here as long as you three, so I think I can manage this." He turned off the Sharingan, hiding the following wince with a hand through his black hair. "If you can do it, I can."

"Won't you have to see it, and _then_ you copy it? He can't just jump in there and come back out. The Shichibi would react at once," Hinata said quietly, furrowing her brow. She obviously had noticed his wince.

"The Sharingan sees a few moves in advance. I could probably follow you just a step behind, if that."

"Hey, we still have the whole problem of there being _five_ people here," Hidan reminded them. "As much as I don't give a damn, it would be pretty fucking stupid to leave _me_ here. They'd seal in an instant, and then you'd have yourselves an immortal Jinchuuriki to deal with."

"If we killed someone on our way out," Suigetsu said lowly, looking at Hinata. She stared evenly back at him, daring him to voice what he was thinking. "…It's you or me, princess. Deidara and Sasuke are tied up, and Hidan is unfortunately right. We can't leave him behind. And don't you _dare_ pull that whole 'I have children' shit. I have a kid, too, and he's already lost his mother."

"Suigetsu-san, you're an idiot," Hinata said, walking over to him. She slapped him as hard as she could, and half of his face splattered onto the floor. Suigetsu angrily reformed, holding his head as he backed up a few steps. "How long can you hold that water form for?" she asked sweetly.

"Not long enough. Trust me, I thought of it already," he growled.

"If you were unconscious…?"

"It doesn't work that way. I have to consciously hold that form."

"How much chakra would it take for you to hold it for five minutes?" Sasuke asked.

"More than I have right now." Suigetsu looked at him in surprise; he knew how his body worked, so shouldn't Sasuke have been more against the idea?

"If Hidan and Hinata both gave you a chakra infusion, it would benefit all of us. They would be easier to transport, and you could put yourself into your water bottles."

That hadn't occurred to him. Suigetsu paused in his argument, mouth slightly agape. "…Huh," he said; that was all he could say just then.

"Deidara, could you wear a couple of water bottles as you went through?" Sasuke asked, turning back to the blonde Iwa-nin.

"Yeah, I don't see why not." He shrugged. "Even so, this is going to be one hell of a game of tag. The Shichibi will be on us the second we start this, so you're going to have to stick close to me if you want to get out of here and not wind up right in front of a demon or two."

"I seem to recall that you did that last time," Hinata said wryly, giving him a look.

"Yeah, well… It won't happen again."

"This is our best bet, anyway, Hinata," Sasuke said. She only nodded. "Now we only have to wait."

"What? Why? For what?"

"For when they send the Yonbi out. It will be one less Bijuu to watch out for, anyway."

-.-.-

Next Chapter: Daisuke's been keeping secrets, and they finally catch up to him when Neji finds out. There are _more_ Konoha-nin who survived?! Meanwhile, the kids couldn't care less; they finally get to get on with their training! Kakuzu and the boys start on theirs while Hitomi happily follows Hachi off into the wild Ame forests to learn how to summon cats. What could possibly go wrong?


	25. A Lesson In Chakra

Hitomi awoke with a smile. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been so happy just to wake up. She didn't even remember to wiggle her fingers and toes as she jumped out of bed and clipped her barrettes into her hair.

_Today is the day_, she thought excitedly, grinning to herself. _Today is the day that I get Kisho back_. Hachi had told her to meet him in three days, and that had been three days ago.

She flew down the stairs to the kitchen, pausing only long enough to steal an apple for breakfast before racing out into the rain. Hachi had been out of the country, so he would have to come back through the gates, right? Hitomi hadn't even grabbed her jacket, but she didn't notice. She stood by one side of the gate, partially out of the pelting rain, peering out into the gloom. She hoped to see a figure before long, but after half an hour, it became obvious that she might be there awhile.

_I will probably not be able to summon a fully grown cat at first_, she told herself, steeling herself for the fact that the first cat she saw might not be Kisho. But whoever it was, it would have information on him. Hopefully. _…Kittens are cute, though_, she thought suddenly. She wouldn't mind summoning kittens for awhile, then.

Hours passed with the raindrops, and Hitomi stayed near the gates, wet kimono clinging to her equally wet skin.

Then, she saw a figure appear in the rain, walking leisurely up the path. Without thinking, Hitomi ran out to meet who she desperately hoped was Hachi.

-.-.-

"Hitomi-chan! Kakuzu said he'd finally teach us something!" Seishirou hollered, banging on the door to her room. Tomozou stood beside him, arms crossed. He'd been dragged into this. He and Hitomi were completely ignoring each other after his outburst a couple days ago, but Seishirou was still bent on getting them back to being friends. That meant spending time together, however awkward it may be.

"Hitomi-chan? Oh, she's already up." Seishirou jumped and turned around with a grin at Yukina's voice. The blue-haired kunoichi smiled at them both. "She actually woke up pretty early. I thought she was doing something with you two…"

"No, she's not. We just got up." Tomozou yawned to prove his point.

Yukina looked worried, but just for a brief moment. She brightened almost immediately afterward. "I'm sure she's not too far away. Probably still down at breakfast. Who knows? Maybe she's cooking again…" She chuckled, tugging a bit on the bottom hem of her shirt. Seishirou was instinctively drawn towards the movement, and realized that she was wearing a different outfit than what she normally wore. Her usual shirt was strapless and showed off her bellybutton. It seemed as if she'd borrowed one of Aoko's dresses, put some pants under it, and an unzipped jacket overtop. Suddenly, she seemed pretty keen on not showing too much skin.

"Why aren't you wearing your other shirt? The one that shows your stomach."

Seishirou had been quite unaware that he said this aloud until he heard Tomozou bite back a laugh. His gaze snapped back up to Yukina's, and he saw that she was staring at him with… what? Surprise? Amusement? Amazement that he just _said_ that? He felt his face heat up and hastily left. Tomozou trotted after him, covering his mouth to prevent the laughter from leaking out. "Want me to kill you now and spare you the aftereffects of _that_ little slip?" he offered.

"Shut up," Seishirou growled through his sleeve.

"She was _really_ impressed with that one. I could tell."

"Shut up."

"You know, girls like it when you ask why they're not flaunting what they have--"

"Shut up, damn it!"

The rest of the day was not much better for Seishirou. Actually, it wasn't too great for anyone.

-.-.-

"Dai-sama, Yukina-chan insists that she can come back to work now. Also, she told me to tell you that the squad sent to find the eastern kunoichi is en route back home; they should arrive sometime today--" Aoko squealed in surprise as Daisuke rushed past her fast enough to mess up her long hair. She blinked as the door slammed shut behind him, papers fluttering to the ground in his wake. "…What was _that_ about?" she asked. After receiving no reply, she tidied up what papers she could, and ran out after him.

She heard him one floor down, banging and shouting. Aoko sighed and skipped down the stairs, skidding around the corner to find a _very_ excited Daisuke telling Neji, "Come on, come on! That one's an order, so you can't ignore me. Come on!"

"Where are we going?" Neji asked dully, deciding it was better not to argue with him. He was pulled out of his room and dragged off. Aoko did him a kindness and shut his door before chasing after them once more.

"I have been waiting and waiting for them to get back--Aoko-chan, do you know if their mission was successful?--but even if it wasn't, I can't wait to see your expression, you two will be so happy! I hope you are, anyway, 'cause we all know how that last war went, but still! You seemed happy to see Shika-kun and Ino-chan, so--"

It clicked with Aoko then. _Oh, yeah, we have another Konoha-nin. It must be someone Neji-san knows_, she thought, a little amused when Neji turned to glare at the back of Daisuke's head. "No, I do not know if the mission was successful or not. Sorry."

She barely had time to throw on a raincoat while still keeping Daisuke in sight. Neji was not so lucky; he was pulled out into the pouring rain without any warning or time to prevent it. He growled and instinctively hunched his shoulders, until finally pulling his arm out of Daisuke's grasp. "Daisuke! Stop it. Tell me what you're talking about."

"Come see. They should be here soon. Village gates, come on."

Aoko, taking pity on Neji, helpfully supplied, "There's another Konoha-nin that's living in Amegakure."

"Who?"

"Her name is--"

"Don't ruin the surprise!" Daisuke said sharply, holding a finger to his lips. "I want to see his expression."

By then, they'd reached the gates. Daisuke sighed in disappointment when he saw that three--no, _four_--people were already standing there. The three tallest were still in their rain gear and masks, save one. She had her cat mask tilted back and was staring down at the shortest one present, immediately recognizable as Hitomi's tiny form. The two were staring at each other.

"Father," Hitomi turned around as she heard them approach. Her face was curiously blank. "…She looks like me."

Neji, likewise, had a vacant look in his white eyes. Daisuke had to physically push him closer to the three returned shinobi. Aoko shuffled over to the sidelines, curious and wary. She had expected hugs and joyous reunions. Not this. Had something bad happened when they last saw each other? Well, the war had happened…

"…Neji-niisan," Hyuuga Hanabi said, looking up from Hitomi for the first time. She broke out into a dazzling smile. Neji didn't return it. It faltered, and then disappeared completely. "…I… hadn't been expecting to see you. Here. Again. Ever. Is this your daughter?" She said the last sentence so quickly it was amazing it was understandable at all.

"…" Neji stepped up to stand beside Hitomi, placing a protective hand on her shoulder. "…Hitomi, meet your aunt."

Hanabi knelt down in the puddle at her feet, at eye level for her niece. "It's very nice to meet you, Hitomi-chan," she said solemnly. The little girl nodded, just as solemnly.

All seriousness was lost, however, as Hitomi spotted another figure approaching the gates from the rain. The change was drastic and more than a bit surprising. She broke out into a grin, ducked out politely from her newfound aunt's attention, and ran to greet the retuning ninja. "Welcome back!" she called cheerfully, barely audible over her puddle-splashing.

Hanabi laughed, tugging her mask back down over her face. "Guess I've been stood up already. Just as well, I suppose. I still have a debriefing to get to--" She turned to walk past Neji, but he put out an arm to stop her.

"Not so fast."

Detecting the tense atmosphere, Aoko decided to leave the reunion be and go investigate who Hitomi had been so happy to see. Still, she glanced over her shoulder several times to make sure no blood was being spilt. Daisuke, who had been fully intent on keeping tabs on the two Hyuuga, was being led away by Hanabi's teammates. Aoko smiled, thinking, _Good. Someone else gets to keep him in line for a few minutes_. Sure, she loved Daisuke like a brother, but sometimes when he was manipulating people--and she meant that in the kindest possible way--he was pretty aggravating. He just loved getting into others' business.

"You seem to be pretty happy." Aoko was a little surprised to see that it was Hachi, of all people, that Hitomi was clinging to and excited to see. She wasn't aware they had met. Hitomi was pulling on his sleeve, grinning up at him, and Hachi was laughing at her attention. Aoko pursed her lips. Sure, Hachi was a good kid, and he was a dependable ally, but he spent too much time on his own for her to like him very much. A shady, antisocial character like him wasn't someone she wanted Hitomi to be friends with.

"Hachi-san, how was your mission? It went well, I suppose?" Aoko asked loudly, making her presence known.

Hachi's smile dimmed a few watts, but he didn't allow any other reaction. "It went well enough. Better than I hoped, actually. You're now looking at Ame's newest snake summoner."

"That's great," Aoko said with a smile. She really was happy with him, but the fact that he summoned snakes jarred her a little. Snakes were known to be some of the cruelest summons, and more often than not, turned on its master instead of its enemy. _Definitely_ not someone Hitomi ought to be playing with. So then--why _was_ she so happy to see him? "That's how many now? Five?"

"Six--no, I guess it is just five." He caught himself too quickly for it to be an actual accident. Aoko respected secrets (after all, they _were_ both ninja), but summoning animals was a different story. A couple of the larger animals could easily level a village. It was the law that all A-rank jutsus--or the equivalent of--had to be reported when learned, just so they didn't have to worry about wars within the walls. Summoning always had to be reported, even if it was technically a D-rank one. "So, yeah. Could you tell Daisuke-sama for me? I probably won't be able to get anything bigger than a garter snake for awhile, but I'll work on it."

"Can you teach me how to summon now?" Hitomi asked, ever polite, but her own eagerness betraying her by the way she was shifting from foot to foot.

"Is that how you know him?" Aoko asked mildly. The little girl nodded in response.

"He is teaching me to summon cats, so that I may get Kisho back. Kisho was my cat in Kirigakure," she explained.

_Well, if Kakuzu-sama is teaching them _his_ ninjutsu, I suppose they kids are allowed to be learning right now_, Aoko thought. "That's nice of him. Thank you, Hachi-san." She even bowed, just to make sure that he wasn't angry with her for her tiny suspicions. She was only looking out for Amegakure, after all; he couldn't blame her for that. Though she might have to tell Yukina or Daisuke about the possibility of him keeping a summoning-related secret from them…

"No problem." Hachi grinned, and then was led away by Hitomi. She seemed keen on getting her lesson done quickly to get her pet back. Not that Aoko could blame her.

"…They learn so quickly these days," she sighed to herself once they were out of earshot. Then, "…I wonder how Hanabi-san and Neji-san are faring. I hope they don't kill each other."

-.-.-

"Where is she? I can't believe she's not here."

"Chill out. Are you _that_ dependent on your sister?"

"You only don't care because she's still pissed at you."

"So? I think that's a valid reason not to care," Tomozou replied dryly. He laced his fingers behind his head, closing his eyes. "Don't forget, I'm pissed at _her_, too. This isn't just a one-sided thing anymore."

"Why are _you_ pissed at her?" Seishirou asked grumpily.

"Because she's been a brat lately. She needs to grow up."

"She's _nine_! She's still a little girl!"

"Aww, how cute. You're still protective of your baby sister," Tomozou cooed, then laughed. With Seishirou glaring at him, however, he soon became serious again. "Look, _everyone_ pampers her. She's even got Sasori-sensei wrapped around her finger. Someone needs to get over the fact that she's a cute little girl and start treating her like a real kunoichi."

Seishirou's smirk threw him for a loop. Tomozou had been expecting more glares, another chewing-out, but not a smirk. "…You called her cute. You _like_ her," he said smugly.

"What? Is that why you're grinning like an idiot? I do _not_ like her." Tomozou closed his eyes again and resumed his nonchalant pose. "Everyone _else_ calls her cute and who knows what else. I was merely referencing them."

"So you don't think she's cute?"

"I don't know. She's too fixated on her appearance. It's annoying."

"You didn't answer my question," Seishirou pointed out triumphantly. "You're in denial. You're--"

"I am not! I don't like her, I don't think she's cute, okay?" Tomozou snarled, dropping his arms as he turned to glare at him. "She's a brat. That's all I think of her."

"Then why are you blushing?"

"Oh, go gawk at your Yukina-_chan_. I don't have time for your stupidity," he growled, turning away to hide his supposed blush. If his face was red, then it was because he was angry, nothing else. Seishirou didn't take his advice, however, and stuck around to pester him more.

"Why are you so defensive if it's not true?" he asked innocently.

"Because you won't drop it!"

"Then why did you _kiss_ her?"

Tomozou flinched at the question; he had been hoping dearly that Seishirou wouldn't have brought it up. "I was trying to get rid of her, so I could talk to you about your parents."

"You kissed her… to get rid of her. Uh-huh."

"I'm serious!"

"Uh-huh. I'm sure. Look, I'm not going to be mad if you just admit it now--"

"I do not like her! I hate her, okay? She's whiny, she's bratty, she can't fight, she doesn't even use those freaky eyes of hers, she's just stupid, so drop it!" With that outburst, Tomozou stormed off. He hadn't gone five steps before Seishirou was walking beside him again, much to his irritation. "I will punch you if you say one more word about this," he warned.

"You don't hate her. If you hated her, you wouldn't care if she was mad at you," Seishirou pointed out, a lot more gently than earlier. Tomozou glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, and then resumed his angry stomping. "Stop it! You're going to get someone mad at us, and then Kakuzu-san won't teach us anything."

"…Fine. Let's go see him, now, then."

"But Hitomi-chan--"

"She can learn on her own time. She's not here, so she lost out. Too bad for her."

-.-.-

At that moment, however, Hitomi actually _was_ learning something; she was not happy with it. "_Why_ am I not allowed to learn it _today_?" she practically wailed. Hachi grimaced, either at the accompanying expression or the volume. "I know how to treat summons! I have had one before!"

"I just don't want to rush this. Summoning is a tricky business, and you need to know how to--"

"I know everything except the summoning technique itself!" Hitomi insisted. "I can get along with the cats, and I really--really only want Kisho back." She hadn't meant for her voice to break just then, but it seemed to be a blessing rather than a humiliation; Hachi gave in.

"…Fine. I'll go get the contract. You just have to sign and put a handprint in… in blood…" That didn't perturb her at all. She had done worse, after all. "After you sign it, then I'll summon a cat, and _then_ I'll teach you the signs."

Hachi trotted off, leaving the excited girl alone. She crouched down under a tree, drawing her knees up to her chest, grinning. If he had still been there, he probably would have been more than a bit alarmed by her grin, but as it was, no one was there to witness it. They were about a kilometer from Amegakure, so she was guaranteed a few minutes to herself.

_Kisho will come back to me_ was all she thought. She may have lost nearly everyone, but at least she could get one of them back. _I will never have to worry about losing him again_. _Kisho will come back to me_.

Miki and Ryo and her mother and Kirigakure and most everyone might've been gone, but baby steps were required here. First, she would get Kisho. Then, her mother. Then, they could go back to Kiri and rebuild it with any other survivors. Miki and Ryo--_I cannot do anything more for them. A mercy angel must do what she can to help those that she can save. She must not mourn unnecessarily over the ones she cannot or could not._

Before she knew it, Hachi was back, carrying a huge scroll on his shoulders. He stood in the clearing, however, and set it down without moving to the rainless space under the trees. Hitomi stood back up, wringing water out of her kimono. "What are you--"

"Watch," Hachi interrupted calmly, making a few seals. Then, he put both hands, palm up, into the air. It was like a giant bubble had been formed. No more rain fell on the clearing, but rather halted a few yards over their heads and drizzled down to the ground on either side of them. He smiled brightly at her. "Water ninjutsu is the only thing I have talent for. And showing off a bit now can save me the hassle of having to explain to the cat elders why a contract scroll is soaked."

"The ink would run, anyway," Hitomi said with a matching smile. Hachi laughed and beckoned her over. "Where is your name?"

"Oh, it's the last one. Well, second to last, since you _insist_ on doing this today… Most of them prior to that had been signed decades and decades ago, and were only open to a select few clans," Hachi explained, gesturing to the few handprints and signatures she could see. "Okay, now prick your thumb and smear it all over your palm. Here--like this--"

He took out a kunai and held it out to her hilt first, holding her other hand in his. Hands shaking ever so slightly--and hoping he didn't notice--Hitomi make a long, thin cut along her thumb. Hachi placed her hands together and moved them, covering both palms with her blood. It stung a little, but she didn't mind it. "I thought you only said one hand."

"What were you gonna smear it around with if not your other hand?" he asked in reply, amused. She blushed and frowned, not having thought of that little detail. "Okay, now place it here." Heart beating madly in her chest, she let Hachi move her hand and place it on the paper. "From now on, use this hand to summon with. You'll also need a bit of blood to do so; most people bite their thumb or use some they already lost during battle."

"I know," she murmured. She was currently fighting between yanking her hand out of his grip and hiding in embarrassment and just letting him do what he wanted to her hands.

Hachi let go of her hands, looking completely oblivious to the state she was in. Hitomi leaned back, face red, trying to keep from passing out. Did that count as holding hands? She wasn't sure. She rarely--if ever, come to think of it--did it with non-family members, at any rate. "And here are the signs," he said, showing her each in turn. It brought back memories of trying to learn them before, and she tried her hardest to remember them this time.

"Ri-Right." Each symbol seemed like the last, and Hitomi knew she would have to relearn it all the second he finished. There was no way she could remember all of them.

"Now, this'll be your first time, and you _are_ pretty young and small… You might feel a bit tired after the chakra drain, but I think you'll be fine. Yeah, you'll be fine," he repeated, to reassure them both. She just smiled at him, watching happily as he tapped his temple in thought.

"Right."

"_Kuchiyose no jutsu!_" All of a sudden, he placed one hand against the ground, and then there was a cat. It was a plump, fluffy, white creature, looking very annoyed and disgruntled as it got its pristine paws muddy. "Oh. It's you, Miku."

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?" the long-haired cat asked in a high, screeching voice. It was obviously female, and it was just as obviously one of those prissy, snarky girls. "_You're_ the one who summoned me here, Hachi. You might as well be happy to see me."

"I only summoned you here to show the newest cat summoner what cats are like. I see I should have summoned a different one--" Hachi made a grab for Miku, but the feline vanished completely from where she had just been. Hachi looked around, but Hitomi saw immediately that the cat had reappeared lightly on his back. Either cats could teleport, or they were _very_ fast.

"_She's_ the newest summoner? Ha! She's a scrawny little stick. Does she have enough chakra in her entire body to summon a _kitten_?" she meowed with a laugh.

"I do too have enough chakra!" Hitomi bristled. "Hachi, show me the signs again, please."

"Okay, first boar, then dog, bird, monkey, and then ram, and then--" He had to walk her through it several times before she could successfully complete it without messing up. Each time, she felt a stronger pull at the base of her neck, like there were strings tied to her spine and someone was tugging on them. She didn't really consciously realize it had happened at all until the last time, however.

In fact, by the time she realized what it happened and what it _meant_, she was slamming her palm to the ground and shouting, "_Kuchiyose no jutsu!_" just to spite a cat.

The smallest kitten Hitomi had ever seen appeared at her fingertips. She only had a moment to notice that its ears were still curled and its eyes shut tight before Miku yowled and jumped down to rescue the mewling thing. Hitomi stared at the kitten. She felt a surge of pride; that small creature had come from _her_. She felt like a mother.

While her pride and admiration of her deed felt like it ought to have taken hours of exertion and a standing ovation from Hachi when she was done, in reality, it took just a moment. And after that brief moment passed, the chakra drain promptly caught up with Hitomi's body. It felt as if an electric shock went up her spine, and almost instantaneously, she lost feeling in almost all of her body.

As Miku was picking up the kitten in her mouth and as Hachi was just about to speak, Hitomi collapsed.

-.-.-

"What are you doing here?" Neji asked quietly. He stood impatiently to one side, arms crossed, foot tapping as Hanabi took her time shedding her rain gear. His younger cousin looked over her shoulder at him, narrowing her eyes a little at him. It was a look she'd often gave him when they were younger.

"Well, right now, I'm taking off all of these wet clothes. Then I assume I'll go to debriefing, and then--"

"In Amegakure. Alive."

"Don't sound so thrilled," she mumbled, looking away from him. Neji sighed and took a moment to recollect his dignity.

"It's not that, I am just… surprised. No, shocked," he amended cautiously, watching her for any sort of reaction. It was hard to do when she was dead set on keeping her back to him.

"Why? Some Konoha-nin weren't killed."

"So far, of those that were in Konohagakure at that… time… I only knew of two that survived. They mentioned being on a mission during that. You wouldn't have been on the same mission. How did you get out?" Neji pressed.

"Father wouldn't have let the new heiress die, would he have? He sent me to live in a politically irrelevant village for awhile. Of course, I hardly knew that _he_ knew what would happen to Konoha. I thought I was just going to live there until the political animosity died down." Hanabi talked quickly: it told him that these were bad memories he was bringing up. Still, he needed to know. "Danzou-sama tried doing the same thing, sending dozens out on missions. Not many left, though. It ended up that he had to start ordering people to leave, lest he kill them himself."

"How did Ino and Shikamaru end up on that list?"

"Shikamaru-kun's a genius, remember? He knew that _some_ had to get out, and grudgingly left, on the condition that he was allowed to take his teammates with him."

"Chouji--?"

"No," Hanabi said softly. "He made a new team, all of his surviving friends, and insisted on getting them out of the village. None of them wanted to go, but eventually, they were practically banished from the village."

Neji saw Shikamaru in a new light. True, he had always known that the lazy shinobi was a smart man, but he was just now appreciating what situations his IQ might've gotten him into during the war. He would have had to have made many difficult decisions. Neji looked down momentarily, feeling a stab of remorse. _Am I a coward, then? For taking the easy way out and siding with the victors…?_ He knew it to be silly, but he couldn't help but feeling uneasy and guilty. _Survivor's guilt_, he told himself, trying to catch his cousin's eye once more. "…Tell me who was on that team. Please."

Hanabi turned fully to him, surprising him. She looked serious, and in a tone that matched, she asked, "…Daisuke-sama _really_ didn't tell you, did he? This was all a surprise to you."

The brunette suddenly had a bad feeling about where this was going. "Yes… This was all a surprise…"

"Hm." Hanabi looked away, feigning casualness. "Well… Oh! Niisan, where's Hinata? I thought she'd still be with you. You two _were_ together, weren't you?" She looked back at him intently. The changed subject was not lost on him, however. He nodded shortly. Hanabi smiled brightly, then, "Well? Where is she? Can't I see my sister after all of these years?"

"She's… not with us right now." It hurt him to say those words; it made her absence that much more acute.

Hanabi looked as if she'd been stabbed. "Oh… Oh my god, no, she couldn't have--"

"She's not dead!" Neji interrupted hastily. "I apologize. I should have been more specific." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, wondering just how much she knew--and how much she ought to know. He distinctly remembered her as an excitable girl, all too eager to get into the last war. Then again, it wasn't as if he could keep much a secret; all of Amegakure knew about the Akatsuki and their Bijuu predicament right then. "She's been captured. We're currently leads as to where she may be held."

Hanabi surprised him greatly by the next thing she said. She tilted her head to one side, black hair falling in front of her white eyes, and asked, "Is that why we were told halfway through our mission to scout out Bijuu locations?"

"…Yes, probably," he replied with a blink, unsure of what else to say.

Hanabi broke out into the brightest smile he'd seen yet. She even _giggled_, which really knocked him off balance. The final thing that completely threw him out of his comfort zone was that she rushed over to him and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. "I don't care _how_ wet we got and how much we complained and how dangerous it was! It was worth it."

"Can you let go--?"

"Niisan, we found it. We found where the Bijuu were. We might've failed our primary mission, but if it means I'm getting Hinata back with that failure, it was worth it. Wasn't it?" Hanabi tilted her head back and grinned up at him. And, for the first time since her appearance, Neji grinned, too.

It was short-lived, however. Hyuuga Neji was not known for grinning senselessly, after all. He placed Hanabi at arm's length and resumed his stoic half-glare, and told her, "Debriefing, _now_. Daisuke needs to know that just as much as I did, and I think you two need to tell me just who--and what--else you're hiding."

-.-.-

Hitomi was momentarily stunned when she first hit the ground. Most of it was just the impact; she surmised that she didn't feel any pain.

But then, she realized that she didn't feel _anything_. She desperately tried to wiggle her fingers and her toes. Nothing. Eyes wide, struggling to keep her breathing regular, everything she'd ever learned about spinal injuries came back to her. _Paralysis, useless, death, I am something that deserves a killing blow. I can't move, I can't move--_ "Hitomi-san? Are you alright?" She blinked, trying to turn to see Hachi. She barely managed to tilt her head upward. That, alone, set her to panicking again.

"I-I--" she croaked, "I ca-cannot m-move." Her voice broke after that, and she had to start blinking rapidly to try to keep back the tears. _I have overdone it; they told me not to use jutsu… I am paralyzed, and now I will be useless, and I can't move, I can't move--_ "I can't move!" she repeated aloud, voice an octave higher than usual.

"What? Hold on, it's not that bad, probably just chakra exhaustion--" Hitomi knew Hachi must be checking over her, but she could only feel ghosts of his touch.

"Hachi! I need to take care of this kitten," Miku meowed loudly, her bushy tail at the edge of Hitomi's vision. "That's why I don't like child summoners; they summon such small kittens, and then they can get sick or die because of it!"

_The kitten… it will die?_ That was something she hadn't thought of. Now, she hadn't only ruined her life, but just killed a kitten. "I-I'm sorry--!" she said, sniffling miserably.

"No, Miku, you need to go get help. Go get someone from Ame. I'm not sure I can move her, so--"

"I was just leaving!" Miku yowled around the kitten.

"Look, the kitten isn't wet or cold--it will be fine for five damn minutes, Miku! Just set it down here next to Hitomi-san--she'll keep it warm--and go to Ame! Find her father, and tell him to come here. If you can't find him, ask someone in Akatsuki uniform," Hachi instructed curtly. He then turned back to Hitomi, and said, "I will be right back, I promise."

"No!" she practically screamed.

Hachi remained impassive, though a more experienced ninja would've seen his wince. "Miku will go ahead to get help, and then she will be back to get the kitten. I'll go lead your dad here. He'll know what's wrong."

"I-I know what's wrong!" Hitomi said wildly, desperate for him to stay there. "It-It's my spine, I had a spinal injury ea-earlier this year, and--"

"I know nothing about spinal injuries. I don't even know if you can be moved, Hitomi-san." This time, he was clearly torn over the subject of leaving a nine-year-old girl, injured and hysterical, alone in a forest. The only reassuring fact in this situation was that sunset was still several hours away. "I need to get someone who knows what's wrong and who can _help_. Just stay here--" He cut himself off, aware of how stupid it sounded.

"I don't like this," Miku said darkly, setting the tiny, mewing kitten down near Hitomi's neck. She felt its warmth, and wished this hadn't happened. If only she'd been stronger, if only she hadn't been injured, if only, if only. "I don't like this idea at all, Hachi."

"Just go!" he snapped. The white cat disappeared instantly. Hachi then turned back to Hitomi. "I will be _right back_. With help. Your dad and Dai-sama and half the Akatsuki if need be."

"Pl-Please don't leave me." She was flat out sobbing at that point. The kitten mewed under her chin, adding to the noise. "Please, Hachi, please, please."

"I'll be right back. I promise."

And then, Hitomi was alone. She stared furiously at the spot where he'd just vanished from. Overhead, the rain beat against his barrier like a low drum, keeping time to her tears. Hachi had just left her. She was alone, save a minute kitten, in a forest of Amegakure and she couldn't move.

_Even if I was able to move, I couldn't do much in the way of defense_, she thought ruefully, shutting her eyes tightly to try to stop herself from crying any longer. _Useless, useless, useless and stupid! Why did I have to learn the summoning jutsu?!_ Deep down, however, she knew that it wasn't the summoning jutsu specifically. Any jutsu with enough of a chakra drain probably would have erased whatever Sasori had done to fix her. It was her own stupidity to blame. Stupidity and blind eagerness.

Just to add insult to an old injury, Hitomi realized that she _still _hadn't gotten Kisho back.

It felt like hours before she saw Miku's white fur again. The cat appeared daintily and padded over on her tiny paws, stooped to pick up the kitten, and didn't say a single word to her. This time her departure was marked by a puff of smoke, but that was all.

Hitomi continued crying.

-.-.-

"First off, to summon rain, there needs to be moisture in the air. If you try it in a desert, not only will it consume an enormous amount of chakra and die from the effort, you'd probably only get a light sprinkle, and only for a moment or two."

Both boys nodded eagerly, leaning forward on the tree branch, though Kakuzu insisted only Tomozou would learn this technique. Seishirou was going to absorb as much of the lesson as he could; Tomozou agreed to teach him the rest later. This way, they'd both learn each other's techniques and have a total of two new ones to add to their repertoire. It was a sound plan, except for the fact that Kakuzu knew they'd try it.

"So in a wet place, this would be a very easy technique to use. In a dry one, you're better off slitting your throat yourself."

"It's just chakra exhaustion," Tomozou made the mistake of saying.

Kakuzu sent him a vicious glare. "You two are hopelessly naïve if you think _that's_ all that happens. I don't teach hopelessly naïve brats, either." Before he could turn and storm off like he'd intended, both boys jumped down from the tree to tug him back towards them.

"We're not hopelessly naïve!" Tomozou insisted.

"Just he is! I know you can die of it, I swear! Teach me, at least!" Seishirou rather selfishly added.

His disloyalty went right over his friend's head, however. Instead, Tomozou turned to him, in mid-yank of Kakuzu's sleeve, and asked, "You _can_?"

"You're not helping," Seishirou hissed.

"Get off." Kakuzu finally succeeded in shaking them off. "Yes, you _can_ die of chakra exhaustion. It's somewhat rare, and usually ninja are smart enough not to try it. In fact, only higher-leveled shinobi can do it. You have to train up your reserves, strengthen them."

"And it takes a really, really big technique. Basically, it has to sap your chakra in a single use. It's pretty hard to kill yourself with lack of chakra with a bunch of different jutsus," Seishirou, keen to prove his knowledge, explained. Kakuzu nodded in agreement, so he took that as a sign to continue. "You have to be of a high enough level to have your chakra tightly interwoven with your body. That's usually about a jounin rank. So when you use up all your chakra in a flash, it completely shuts down your vital organs and you die."

"How can you use up chakra that quickly?" Tomozou asked skeptically, raising both eyebrows. "Don't you use some of it _preparing_ the jutsu? That's the reasons for hand signs, isn't it?"

"No, it's not," Kakuzu snapped, hitting him on the head. The pink-haired boy glared at him and backed up a few steps, but stayed within hearing range to listen to the proper explanation. Seishirou took a few precautionary steps back, just in case. Kakuzu sighed. "Hand signs are to prepare the chakra. They actually use very little of it, unless you're incredibly sloppy, in which case, you ought to die a horrible death anyway." Seishirou sent Tomozou a triumphant grin, which earned him a smack on the head as well. Glaring at him, Kakuzu added, "That's not to say that you're right, you little punk. When it comes to chakra-related death, the hand signs do have a significant part in it."

"How?" Seishirou asked, glaring at his abusive teacher with watery eyes. Tomozou snickered at his expense. "Hand signs are there to mold the chakra, not much else."

"Indoctrinated little…" Kakuzu muttered the rest under his breath, lest the two boys learn more language he'd get in trouble for later. "Hand signs are only there to mold chakra because you _think_ they do. Your body affiliates certain moves, for want of a better word, with certain signs."

The two stared at him cluelessly.

The black-haired Akatsuki member clenched his fists, trying to stop himself from either ripping his hair out or killing the both of them. "…Look, say you create a new jutsu." They nodded. "How do you know which signs to use?"

"Um… You decide?" Seishirou ventured.

"Only a little. Most deaths because of extreme chakra exhaustion are because stupid people try to create their own techniques. Ninjutsu and genjutsu ninja use nowadays have been whittled down, sign by sign, until they're at their most basic level. Ever notice that the easiest ones like _Kawarimi_ and _Bunshin_ only require one or two signs?"

It was sort of comical the way the realization came over them. Kakuzu allowed himself a small snort.

"The most common are the easiest, because they are useful and use the least amount of chakra. That's because they require the least hand signs. Jutsus that require a lot, on the other hand, sap your chakra like nothing else will."

"So… People die because they use too many hand signs?"

"No. It's when they try to use the jutsu that uses too many hand signs that they die." Yet again, he was met with rather blank looks. Kakuzu rolled his eyes. "Have either of you used a lot of fire jutsus?"

"I have!" Seishirou volunteered with a grin. Tomozou just shook his head.

"Well, do you know how fire jutsus work?"

"Yeah. Sasuke-san uses them all the time."

"Well, fire burns oxygen, right?" Two nods. "If there's a normal supply of oxygen, the fire burns steadily and for awhile. If there's a surplus, however, it burns it all up in a flash and then is gone, right?"

"Oh… yeah, I guess so," Tomozou said wonderingly. "…Can you do that?"

"Huh?" Kakuzu was caught off guard by the request.

Tomozou grinned up at him. "Can you pour a bunch of oxygen into an area and then use a fire jutsu to ignite it?"

"Yes. Shinobi that deal with fire techniques often do it as a sort of quick explosion, if they need it. It's a very good way to distract your enemies or draw their attention away from you."

"Teach us that!"

"Wasn't I teaching you the rain jutsu?"

"I want to know both."

"If he learns it, I want to know it!" Seishirou chimed in.

Kakuzu grit his teeth and created a _Kage Bunshin_, his original plan. He picked up Seishirou by the back of the shirt, while the other picked up Tomozou the same way and marched off. He would teach them both at the same time, saving time, and annoying them as well. They couldn't learn each other's jutsus if they didn't see the demonstration, and he doubted a couple of kids could effectively teach one another. Truthfully, he just wanted to see them mad.

"Origami," he said before Seishirou could protest, "is completely unlike the rain jutsu and has a constant chakra drain. It is dependent, however, on the amount of paper you have."

"That sounds really, really stupid," Seishirou remarked darkly, grumpy over his sudden lack of the rain jutsu.

"It was your mother's signature jutsu and it killed more people than you'll meet in your entire lifetime," Kakuzu retorted easily. That shut Seishirou up real fast. "Honestly though, your feelings about it are a little relieving. There's no way you could properly pull it off, at least not to her standard."

"Why the hell not?!"

"Konan relied almost solely on her origami. She built her fighting style and lifestyle around it. You will never be able to use it as she did--"

"Excuse me."

Both Kakuzu and Seishirou looked around for the interruption's source, but it wasn't until Seishirou looked down that he saw who it was. It was a plump, long-haired, white cat. It was looking up at Kakuzu with what could only be feline disgust, nose wrinkled and ears laid back. "…What?" Kakuzu asked, unsure of how to address the cat.

"My god, you _are_ back." The cat stuck out its tongue and turned away. "Tell me, do you know where Hyuuga Hitomi's father is? I have to find it, and I suppose it's rather urgent."

"He should be at the tower--"

"What happened?!" Seishirou broke in. The cat spared him a look of pure contempt before disappearing, leaving nothing but tiny paw prints in the mud.

-.-.-

Next Chapter: What will happen to Hitomi?! What will the others think of Hachi for this mistake of his? Sasori explains to a less-than-patient father just how messed up Hitomi's chakra system is after the last-ditch effort to save her; Hanabi seemed to stumble back into the family at the wrong time. And who are these other Konoha-nin that survived...?


	26. Fixing

Hitomi lay on the cold metal table. She knew it was cold only because she knew it ought to be so: she couldn't feel a thing. It was dark, and smelled of equally dark things, like blood and chakra and death and the ever-present scent of wood that accompanied Sasori everywhere. He stood over her, a silhouette against the only light in the room, cleaning a scalpel.

"You'll have to be conscious, just so you know. I'll numb your body, however. You won't feel a thing, except maybe a slight tug when I'm sewing you back up. Concentrate only on breathing. Stay calm. If you start panicking, this will only take longer," he said smoothly, holding the scalpel up to the light. His muddy brown eyes were on Hitomi, however. "I am not a medic-nin, so don't expect me to have much sympathy for your injury or current situation. It was your own fault. I'm only fixing you this time because I cannot _stand_ to leave a project unfinished like this."

Hitomi would have nodded. She didn't respond, however, and just stared out into the dim workshop. She was lying on her stomach, head turned so that she could watch him move from the shadows to the light and back again. She concentrated on keeping her eyes and mind on him. She knew what shock was, and she knew what it did to a body. It'd be easier if she could avoid that.

So instead she stared at his hair, easily the brightest thing in the room. She wondered what it would have looked like longer, or shorter, or what it would have looked like faded with age. Of course, it would never be any of those things, but she occupied herself with those thoughts regardless.

"The reason why it failed the first time, in case you're curious," Sasori said casually, walking around to where she couldn't see him, "is because you were unconscious during the operation. And, I'll admit, it was a rush job. I loathe those, but sometimes, you can't help it. Do you know how the human chakra system works?"

She found it interesting that he used the word 'human' in there; it meant he really didn't consider himself human any longer. Hitomi found it more interesting, however, how _talkative_ he was. He was merrily chatting away, even if it was mostly to himself.

"It is a lot like blood vessels. You should know that, because of the Byakugan, I suppose. But for regular shinobi, well, most don't realize that it's not evenly distributed throughout the entire body. These veins are interwoven through their skeletal structures and organs, vital and not. There is a chakra center, or heart, that keeps it circulating and controls it. It also houses your chakra reserve. That's irrelevant at this point, though." Sasori sounded thoughtful in his last statement, and she could imagine him tapping the scalpel against his jaw. "Chakra systems die when the body dies. Just like how blood stops circulating when the heart stops beating.

"The same thing happens when you are asleep or unconscious. Just like how the heart slows. You were unconscious during your last operation, so your chakra was moving slowly, and less of it was there. I had to reconnect more veins than what was strictly necessary to your spine in order to make it work again," Sasori explained smoothly. Since he wasn't reappearing in her vision, she surmised that he must have started. He had probably already cut her open, and was working on rearranging her body in order to make it work again. Although…

"So… you made a mistake," Hitomi said in a small voice. "You overcompensated."

"Oops, look at that. I accidentally lodged the scalpel in between your vertebrae. You shouldn't talk during an operation; it distracts the doctor." He commented airily. She mentally shuddered. Sasori was cruel, even if he was helping to save her. Hitomi didn't bother apologizing, however. And luckily for her, he didn't require it.

For a while after that, he was silent. She didn't know whether he was actually intent on his work or was punishing her for speaking, but she wasn't about to ask. So Hitomi took his advice--what she should have done in the first place--and concentrated on her breathing. It was easier to listen to that than to the wet, bloody sounds in his direction.

She knew why it was he who was doing the operation. It was his project to begin with, and he knew how to fix his mistake. And while he was not a medic, he undoubtedly knew the human body as well as one. Still, she wished it had been someone else standing over her. Someone who didn't know her or what had caused this injury or how she'd messed up.

Eventually, Sasori started talking again.

"…Once this is done with and your back heals, we're going to need to properly test what you can and can't do. Better now than in the battlefield…" he murmured. "You're going to have to do whatever technique that got you into this mess again to see if you can handle it. Also, basic things like the _Juuken_, _Kawarimi_ or _Bunshin_. Maybe some basic elemental jutsus… I'd also recommend training with your father on your chakra control. The less chakra you waste on techniques, the more you can use before your spine gives up again.

"And speaking of that--for the record, you are fine. You managed _not_ to kill yourself with whatever technique you tried. That means that all it would have taken for you to regain feeling and half your nervous system is for your chakra to replenish itself. If this happens again, you'll just have to wait it out. Of course, in a fight, that means certain death. But… Just keep that in mind. The effect is temporary. Think of it as extreme chakra exhaustion," Sasori said airily.

Hitomi swallowed a lump in her throat. She was more grateful than anything else; _it isn't permanent_, she thought. _It never was._

"After this is done, you'll have to sleep a minimum of twenty-four hours. I'll give you a drug for that. If you wake up and still feel tired, go back to sleep. Only get up when you have complete feeling in your extremities. Be careful stretching and bathing, and if you rip your stitches, I'm getting _Kakuzu_ to fix you next time."

She would have nodded, had her body allowed her to.

-.-.-

"…Are you done yet?" Kakuzu asked, bored, chin in hand. Tomozou sent him a glare and repeated the jutsu. The signs were flawless--as they were the last ten times.

"I want to be sure I get this right!"

"…I really, _really_ wonder how you're going to be satisfied it works when it's _already raining_," Kakuzu deadpanned. He got another glare in response. He rolled his eyes and stood up, wringing out the bottom hem of his uniform. He was soaked, annoyed, losing patience, and didn't want to be anywhere near when the kid figured out what happened to Hitomi. His real self was already at the tower, doing who knows what. Probably damage control. He, the _Kage Bunshin_, not-so-patiently waited for Tomozou to get a grasp on the rain jutsu as a distraction. They didn't need another kid underfoot while the rest of the adults all flipped a shit.

_I'm so glad I never spawned any children_, he couldn't help but think. The three he'd been forced not to harm did nothing to encourage him otherwise. They were all bratty and selfish, not to mention hopelessly naïve and ignorant. He'd be honestly surprised if any of them reached twenty.

Though, if he had to make any bets, he'd guess that Tomozou would survive the longest. He didn't depend on anyone like the other two, and he had more experience as well. Not to mention the fact that he was already fairly skilled with a sword--if his annoyingly familiar white stick counted as one--and probably had enough genetic mutations for who knew how many different quirks and powers.

"Say, kid," Kakuzu spoke up, catching Tomozou's attention, "I never really got to ask… Do you take more after your father or mother?"

"Father, obviously," he said guardedly, narrowing his eyes. "_You_ even said I looked like him."

"No, not that. I meant… Well, you've had to realize by _now_ that both your parents are fucking freaks. Do you sense chakra like your mother or turn into a puddle like your father?" he asked.

"Neither," Tomozou replied flippantly, turning his nose up at him and returning to practicing his hand signs. "I can sense chakra as well as any regular shinobi, but it's more of a…feeling, rather than any actual _sensing_ like mom."

"What about the whole puddle thing? If I hit you, are you going to turn into blood and organs or water?"

"Blood and organs. And bones, since I'm pretty sure I have those, too." He glared at him. The Akatsuki member gave him a wry smile in return.

"So you're not a freak in the least? How damn tame. And here I was surprised that you even exist stably."

"If you _must_ know, I'm not exactly _completely_ stable," Tomozou admitted quietly. His hands were halfway to the rat sign and he was staring at them rather than at Kakuzu. "I'm just different."

"Different?" It took a surprising amount of willpower to stop himself from reaching over and bashing his head against the nearest tree, just to find out what this _difference_ was.

"What are you stalling for?" the boy asked instead, looking at Kakuzu sideways.

"What?" While Kakuzu _was_ stalling, part of him was genuinely curious to see what kind of genetic mutations would appear in Orochimaru's second generation. He had always been a little intrigued by the Sannin's experimentations--though he'd rather gouge out his own eyes than admit that to anyone--and not even Sasori, who knew his ex-partner best, could have figured out what that second generation might contain. Plus, if Kakuzu figured out Tomozou's genetics first, he'd get to rub it in that smug puppeteer's face.

"You never _talk_ to anyone unless you're stalling."

"I'm not stalling."

"Yes you are."

"I'm not fucking stalling," Kakuzu deadpanned. "I'm not a patient enough man to stall anyone."

"No, you are. Sasori-sensei says that, too. Sure, you yell a lot and get violent when you don't get immediate results, but I know you're patient. You couldn't be this strong of a ninja if you weren't. Besides, if you weren't patient, how could you have put up with waiting this long for a proper plan and better situation before storming off to take your partner back from the Bijuu?" Tomozou asked curiously. He seemed perfectly innocent, and that grated against Kakuzu all the more.

"You… are _really_ annoying. Shut the fuck up now and practice your rain shit."

Tomozou grinned triumphantly and went back to repeating the signs. Overhead, thunder rumbled and the rain poured down harder than ever.

-.-.-

Hanabi sat between the two, chin in her hands and elbows on her knees. It was hardly a comfortable pose, but it allowed her the biggest form to block them from one another. On her right was a veritable mass of murderous intent, but hidden underneath, she could sense his tension and concern. On her left was a shell-shocked, still-trembling boy who'd just had a too-close brush with death.

Hanabi pushed her face into her hands, sighing. This day had contained far too much for her to be any sort of happy.

She and Neji had just gotten to Daisuke's room for debriefing when the white cat had appeared. Hanabi was used to animal summons carrying messages, so she had been a little surprised when Neji visibly flinched back from the cat. "Whose are you?" he'd asked, instead of asking directly for the message.

"I suppose he calls himself _Hachi_ now, doesn't he?" the fluffy feline had asked in response. It then turned and paused to lick itself before asking casually, "Are you Hyuuga Neji? The father of the little girl?"

"…What's happened to Hitomi?" His voice had dropped low, barely above a whisper. Hanabi swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry; something had happened to her newfound niece?

"Meet Hachi by the eastern gate. He'll lead you to her. She had a, ah, _accident_." The cat tensed up, preparing to depart, but Neji had hauled it up by the scruff of its fluffy neck before it got the chance. "Yowch! Let me go--!"

"What. Happened."

"I don't know! I wasn't there!" it had snarled, taking swings at his hand and arm with its sharp claws. Then, it had managed to detach itself with a vicious slash across his wrist, and subsequently vanished.

That had been almost an hour ago. Hanabi looked sideways at Neji, trying to figure out how much he'd calmed down. Not much, she decided. He wasn't pacing anymore, though, so she took that as a good sign. The fact that she had all but made him stop pacing didn't count.

His body was as tense as it could possibly be, jaw set and eyes staring hard at the floor. If anything, it looked as if he had just shut down. His white eyes were blank and the only movement was the slow, steady rise and fall of his chest that showed he was still breathing. She knew he wasn't nearly as oblivious as he seemed, however. It would only take one tiny thing to set him off again.

When they had found Hachi at the eastern gate, Hanabi had to restrain Neji from torturing him for the information. Hachi was more than willing to help them anyway, frantic with worry and nearly incoherent, but at least he was a worried rabbit; even they could barely keep up with his darting through the trees and brush.

When they came upon Hitomi, however, there was no restraining Neji. He took one look at his daughter and turned on Hachi. He seized the boy by the shirtfront, lifting him off of his feet, faces inches apart. Before he could ask, however, Hachi started babbling, "It-It wasn't me! She just--the _Kuchiyose_ jutsu--she summoned a kitten--just fell over! She says she has no feeling--paralyzed--"

"You taught a nine-year-old girl who hasn't even achieved a genin rank yet the _Kuchiyose_?" Neji snarled. He dropped Hachi to the ground but kept one hand on his shirt collar, the other hovering just above his forehead, glowing with chakra. "Tell me right now why I should not microwave your insides for doing this to my daughter."

"Da-Dad?" A pathetic voice broke into the one-sided argument, and Neji's anger vanished immediately. Hitomi opened her eyes, staring up at the three of them with the biggest, saddest doe eyes Hanabi had ever seen. "Daddy?" she repeated in a whisper, sounding even smaller and sadder than she already was.

That was that. Neji scooped her up and disappeared with a _Shunshin_, leaving Hanabi to escort Hachi back to the tower. He hadn't spoken since then, at least not to her knowledge. She didn't know who had the little girl now, but someone had her, and hopefully that someone could fix whatever befell her niece.

Hachi was obviously just waiting for death at that point. His gaze was hollow and he was as white as a ghost. His sandy hair hung in wet locks, probably from a mixture of sweat and rain, and his eyes were too bright. Bright and hollow; Hanabi knew what that meant. She had last seen those eyes in her sister. Hanabi lolled her head to the side, resting it on one shoulder, as she closed her own eyes. That had been years and years ago, when Hinata had been some scared girl locked in the Konoha prison. Before half the Akatsuki broke her and Itachi out.

She didn't like thinking about that and unconsciously wrinkled her nose at the last memory she had of her sister. Instead, she tried to focus on seeing her again. Soon. They knew the Bijuu's whereabouts now, so all that needed to be done was storm the place and rescue Hinata. Simple, even for post-war Ame.

The ticking of the clock was starting to wear on her ears. Tick-tock, tick-tock. Too loud and too regular. She wasn't the only one noticing it, either, based on the reactions on both sides of her. Before Neji snapped or Hachi disintegrated into a puddle, Hanabi stood up, marched across the hall, and stood on her tiptoes to reach the clock. She gave the devise a jolt of chakra, short-circuiting it and stopping it forever at 3:42 in the afternoon. Satisfied, she allowed herself a smile as she marched back to her chair, plopping down like she had only been up stretching her legs.

It would be a long wait, especially with nothing but an internal clock now to tell how much time had passed.

Hanabi knew it would be an even longer wait when an orange-haired kid skidded into the room, soaked, panting, and demanding, "Where's Hitomi-chan?!"

"Who are you?" Hanabi asked in reply, standing up. Loud brats weren't needed in waiting rooms, especially one she had been working so hard to keep calm. If this was one of her little friends, then he could wait. Away from Neji and Hachi, preferably.

"Who are _you_?" he asked in surprise, turning his eyes on her and noticing her for the first time.

All of the blood promptly drained out of Hanabi's face. The orange hair had jarred her, yes, but it hadn't clicked in her mind. The grey, ringed eyes did it for her. She had only ever seen Pein once in person, during Ame's retreat, but she would never forget him. Instinctively, her eyes sought Neji's, but he was just now looking up. He was looking at the kid.

"You look like--" Next thing she knew, he was in front of her, up on his tiptoes to peer up at her. "You're like my--parents." She missed the pause before the last word, but Neji didn't. He looked momentarily at the door, then back at the orange-haired boy.

"Wh-Who are you?" Hanabi asked, backing up until her back met the wall. She pressed her palms flat against its surface, gathering chakra in them. Just in case. She may have lived in Amegakure now, but this was the post-war Ame. Pein was dead. The Akatsuki were no longer in control. So why was this kid here, looking like the leader? "Why do you look like--"

"Hanabi, calm down. This is Seishirou." Neji interceded before either she or this Seishirou boy did anything hasty. He glanced back once at the younger boy, who in turn had his glare locked on Hachi, before returning his gaze to Hanabi. He was fully aware of the situation now, unlike before. "This is my son. I'll explain the details later. But just calm down for now."

"Son," she repeated, dumbfounded. Son. _Son_. How had _that_ happened?! Did her sister know of this? Did the kid know? Who else knew? Was it a secret--no, it couldn't be. Not with his looks. Anyone who knew _anything_ about the Akatsuki would recognize him.

Still, she decided to trust Neji. If he wasn't panicking, then she shouldn't, either. Daisuke, too, must have known Seishirou was in the village, so she trusted his judgment on the issue as well. He wouldn't endanger Ame. Reluctantly, Hanabi nodded, just as Neji repeated, "I'll explain later."

"Who are you?" Seishirou had yet to be pacified, however. He was still glaring daggers at Hachi, but his words were obviously directed at his supposed aunt. She swallowed; not only had she found a niece today, but apparently a nephew as well. The day was certainly full of surprises.

Neji turned his back on Hanabi and placed both hands on the boy's shoulders. He nodded back towards her, saying, "Seishirou, this is your aunt. Hyuuga Hanabi. She returned from her mission today, which is why you're just now meeting her."

"Oh. …So where's Hitomi-chan?! There was a cat, and it was looking for you, and--" Hanabi tuned him out, reading his body language instead of listening. He didn't seem like a threat. He just seemed like an excited kid. He shifted from foot to foot nervously and alternated between tugging on his long sleeves and messing with his long hair.

_He would have to be about twelve or thirteen, if he really is Pein's son… Probably a genin or a chuunin, then. But still just a child_, she surmised, writing Seishirou off just like that.

-.-.-

Nineteen hours after the surgery was completed, Hitomi woke up. She didn't dare attempt to wiggle either her fingers or her toes, afraid of what the outcome of such an endeavor might be. Instead, she struggled to raise her head. She could only lift it an inch or two, but it allowed her to spot what had been weighing down the bed near her feet--her father. He was dozing lightly, using his arms as a pillow, the top of his head lightly touching her ankle, though the sheets separated them. Hitomi couldn't help but think that he was very warm.

She opened her mouth to speak, but decided better. He needed sleep, and so did she. She still felt tired, and hadn't Sasori said something about resting a full day before doing anything?

With that, Hitomi closed her eyes and drifted back off to sleep.

-.-.-

Tomozou awoke in his room. He had gone to bed alone, so was surprised to find Seishirou sleeping in his own bed. Never mind the fact that Seishirou hadn't woken him up to update him on the situation--how had he snuck in? Tomozou scowled to himself and slithered out of bed, trying his best to be quiet, though it was unnecessary. Seishirou didn't move an inch, even when his roommate accidentally hit his shin against the corner of his bed and subsequently fell over, swearing.

"What's up with him, I wonder…" Tomozou muttered to himself through grit teeth, holding his shin. Narrowing his watery eyes, he thought, _He would have woken me if something _serious _had happened, right…?_

He gingerly crept back up and over to the door, keeping his gaze locked on the sleeping Seishirou at all times. The older boy didn't move. Tomozou might've thought he was dead, if it wasn't for the obvious lack of blood (he firmly believed that things needed to be killed bloodily) and the occasional snore.

Closing the door behind him, Tomozou breathed a sigh of relief. Mission: sneak out without waking Seishirou--success.

"Is Seishirou-kun awake?"

Tomozou bit down on his lip to stop himself from shouting. Yukina looked at him in amusement, smiling uncertainly. After calming his heartbeat, he regarded the kunoichi coolly. She was best friends with Aoko, who was Daisuke's assistant. She would have to know if something serious was going on, and as she wasn't panicking, he took it as a good sign. "No, he's not. He was sleeping pretty hard, and I went to bed at about midnight, so he came in after me…" he trailed off vaguely, continuing watching her for any sort of reaction.

"So he had a late night. That makes sense, poor guy…" Yukina sighed sadly, shaking her head. "Well, when he wakes up, could you tell him I'd like to talk to him? It's not important, but, you know, if he'd like to talk about it, then I'm here for him. Oh--you too, Tomozou-kun!" she added hastily, reaching out to embrace him. Tomozou took the rather tight, awkward hug mutely, wondering what Seishirou would want to talk about. He'd probably be too busy staring at Yukina to do much talking.

"Yeah… I'll tell him," he mumbled into her shoulder.

Yukina held him out at arm's length, smiling weakly. "Good. I was going to invite him to breakfast with me, but since he's asleep and you're awake, would you like to come instead? I'll just treat him to lunch, if he wakes up in time for that… Or, if Hitomi-chan's feeling better by that time, we could all go together! How does that sound?"

Tomozou tensed at Hitomi's name. _So--it has to deal with _her_. That makes sense. Did she get injured, or fall ill?_ Curious, he asked casually, "Do you know if she's feeling better yet…? Or when she will?"

"Hmm… Didn't Sasori-sama say sometime this afternoon? That's when she'll probably wake up, and we won't know anything, really, until then." She frowned in thought, but brightened. It was obvious she was only being cheerful for his sake, even if he still had no idea what was going on. "That'll be soon enough! I'm sure she'll be completely fine. And anyway, she'll be under the care of you two boys during--uhh, nevermind, actually."

"During what?" _Really_ curious now, Tomozou plastered a disarming smile on his face as he leaned in. Yukina had slip that Hitomi would be under their care--which really was the norm, but she didn't realize it, which meant that something would be out of the norm. Which meant that the adults, or at the very least, Neji and probably the two Akatsuki-nin, would be gone. And what was the main reason ninja left their families? "A mission?" he asked brightly.

"Um, yes." Yukina looked down at her feet awkwardly, casting about for something else to say. Tomozou felt momentarily sorry for her, since he was pressing, and relented. Now that he had some basic information, he could find out the rest on his own. He _was_ a ninja, after all.

"We'll do our best to protect her, then." Tomozou saluted smartly, grinning. Yukina visibly relaxed. "I'll tell Seishirou about your offer, but I'm sorry; I can't come with you to breakfast. Maybe some other time, okay?"

"Oh, okay. No worries, then." She returned the grin and allowed him to leave.

Once his back was turned on her, Tomozou's grin darkened. It would be entertaining to find out the rest of the information he needed. There were two parts: what had happened to Hitomi, and what the upcoming mission was. He had a few guesses as to either one, but left them as guesses instead of hypothesizing to himself.

_First, to find out about Hitomi. Seishirou's out cold and I'm not going to ask Neji-san about something as delicate as that, so… That leaves either of the Akatsuki-nin._ It was time for him to learn something else from his supposed sensei.

He just had to track them down first.

-.-.-

Next Chapter: Hitomi's recovery, or attempt at it. Scars will remain, and not just the physical ones. Tomozou's on a hunt for information, leaving Seishirou behind. Neji tries to deal with the fact that he really can't protect everyone and must focus on those he can. And finally--evil rears its ugly head. Who is it, and what are the monsters really?

(Updating Note: White Knight's updates have been moved from every friday to every other friday. This way, yeah, less updates, but hopefully they will be updates on schedule! This will not be a permanent schedule (I hope), but just a temporary one until I get my inspiration/support system back working. As always, reviews are loved and supporting!)


	27. Breaking

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Dark eyes glowed balefully in the red light of the sunset. Soon, it would be dark, and then the nightly routine would start again. Everyone would have to go inside, so neither of them had much time. Still, sunset was the safest time to have this conversation--people were too busy concentrating on their own safety. And the people who'd be interested the most in this conversation were too busy fawning over the little Hyuuga girl, distracted by their bonds.

_Pathetic_. The thought was so obvious it hurt. The silhouette looked away, trying not to acknowledge the blatancy on the other's face.

"Answer me. What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Absolutely nothing," came the innocent reply.

"Don't bullshit me! I know what you've been gathering--it's disgusting! What are you trying to accomplish with this?"

"Absolutely nothing. Now--it is sunset. Shouldn't you be getting to safety before nightfall?"

-.-.-

Hitomi was allowed to sit up and eat supper that night. She did so delicately, but it was easy to see that she was starving behind that veil of manners. She didn't complain once about the food, or about any sort of pain, or anything at all, which was unlike her, answering any questions with a small "no, thank you," or a "yes, please," and keeping her eyes downcast.

"Would you like more rice?" Seishirou asked, propping his elbows up on her bed. Neji gave him a disapproving look but didn't comment on his behavior.

"Yes, please," Hitomi responded around her chopsticks. Seishirou eagerly took her empty bowl and padded out of the room in his bare feet and pajamas. She shyly looked up at his retreating form, just as he exited the room, and Neji didn't miss that. She caught her father looking and hastily looked back down at her lap.

"He was worried about you, too," Neji said quietly, leaning forward to kiss her on the forehead. "Everyone was."

"I know," Hitomi said evasively. She opened her mouth to add something else, but closed it after a moment of silence. He waited her out, however; she obviously needed to say something else. And finally, she did. In a tiny voice, Hitomi said, "…Sasori was not worried."

"He was--"

"Kakuzu was not either."

Neji hadn't known that she was that attached to the other Akatsuki member. He paused to collect his thoughts, trying to figure out how to approach the topic as delicately as possible. Surely she knew that both Sasori and Kakuzu weren't the types to… worry? Show emotions? Care about any other being beside themselves?

"…Tomozou was not worried. He's still not worried. He has not seen me yet." With that reluctant whisper, Neji knew that she really wasn't worried about Kakuzu, or even Sasori. He relaxed and sat on the edge of her bed, pulling her against him. Hitomi sniffed and looked up at him for the first time since she awoke. "Doesn't he care about me? I-I know we are angry with each other, but I nearly died! Does he really ha-_hate_ me?" she asked tearfully.

"No, he doesn't hate you." While he wanted to add 'far from it' to the end of that sentence, he knew he shouldn't meddle in the fickle arguments of young ninja. Who knew what Tomozou was feeling towards Hitomi right now. It _was_ true, after all, that he hadn't come to see her yet. "I'm not sure where Tomozou is, or if he even knows where you are, but I'm sure he'll come see you eventually. He's not that angry with you."

"But--what if he _is_?" she persisted. Hitomi looked back down, tugging on his shirtfront as she did so. "…What did you do to Hachi?"

"Nothing. Why would you ask that?"

"You were angry with him."

"Were. Not any longer," Neji lied. He ran his fingers through her short hair. Her barrettes were out, which she amazingly hadn't commented upon yet, and made her look even younger than she already was. She was his little girl. He smoothed her hair down, sensing her anger at the slight muss, and reassured, "Don't worry about it. Hachi-san is fine. He's already explained what happened. …Are _you_ angry with him?" He selfishly and secretly hoped that she would answer with a definite yes. If she was angry, he could be, and he could blame any following actions on his role as a protective father. He already brought his case to Daisuke, demanding some sort of (admittedly severe) punishment, but the leader was still on the fence. It _had_ been an accident.

"No," she replied shortly.

At that point, Seishirou came back in with the promised rice, and Hitomi silently devoured that bowl as well. She didn't speak any more, and neither did Neji, respecting her right to muteness if she felt it necessary. He didn't know why, but he would go along with it.

Seishirou, for his part, just perched himself in the chair at the foot of her bed, propped his elbows up on it, and watched her. He was smiling slightly, obviously trying to keep upbeat, but Neji knew what his expression really meant. He had been reminded, again, of shinobi mortality. He had already lost so much, but Seishirou and Hitomi both had been through just as much. Seeing his little sister in such a state for the second time in such a short time frame must've felt like a punch to the gut.

Neji foresaw Seishirou reverting back into his guard dog mode soon.

Spotting his adoptive son sneak a glance towards the door, he knew Tomozou would be in for one hell of a storm once he reappeared. The brunette man sighed and kept running his fingers through Hitomi's hair. Hinata would have known how to soothe all of these hurt feelings.

_Soon. Soon, now,_ he reprimanded himself, glancing downward at the top of her head. Hitomi was still a mess, muddy and dirty and slightly bloody, not having had a proper wash for a couple days now. Her black hair was still as beautiful as ever, though. He kissed the part in it, and stood up, away from her. She looked at him curiously, but didn't reach out to make him stay; she was trying to be strong. He suspected he'd be seeing a lot of that, too.

"It's getting dark. I'm going to go check the building and talk to Daisuke. You two stay in here, alright?" He earned two nods in response.

Neji left his children there with no intention of finding Daisuke, though he'd definitely be checking the windows and doors (never mind the fact that he'd done so three times already that day). Now that Hitomi was awake, his priority had to be the upcoming mission again. It had been haphazardly thrown together before her accident, and postponed at his request after it. They only had a sparse few days now to plan it, lest their window of opportunity close on them, and then he'd have to leave for it. He'd have to leave them.

As much as he didn't want to admit it, he really had become a father through and through. It physically hurt him to think of leaving them, no matter if it was for a good cause or short time. It hurt because he was willingly leaving them.

Neji smiled ruefully to himself, wondering just _what_ all of his old comrades would think of him now. Nearly a decade and a half ago, he was content, with his teammates, and ignorant of the impending war. He was in Konoha. He had most everything he wanted.

He never would have envisioned his future as it was now.

_Gai-sensei, Lee, Tenten… What would you say about me now? Is it a good thing that I have mellowed out? Or would you be disappointed in my repeated failures to protect everyone?_ He hadn't protected Konoha--it had been destroyed. He hadn't protected Hinata--she had been kidnapped (again). He couldn't even protect his children.

"Neji-niisan?" He didn't stop walking when he heard Hanabi behind him. She jogged up to fall into step with him, looking at him casually. "How is Hitomi-chan? I was just going to visit her…"

"She's fine. A little shaken, but fine."

"Nervous?" Hanabi asked with a smile she didn't mean.

"About what?"

"About the mission. Getting Hinata back. Hopefully putting a stop to the Bijuu once and for all--"

"You know as well as I do that this won't be a killing mission. We're only there to rescue them and defend."

"You really think Sasori-san and Kakuzu-san are going to hold back because of that?" she asked, amused. "Those Akatsuki-nin are pretty vengeful, aren't they?"

"I wasn't aware Sasori was coming," Neji said stiffly, looking at her sideways. He'd thought that Sasori would stay behind. He couldn't do much against the chakra demons.

Hanabi shrugged, fully aware that he hadn't known. "He… insisted. Daisuke-sama couldn't refuse him."

"Then who is going to stay behind to guard the village?" He nearly ended that sentence with 'the children'. Oh, how much he'd changed.

"Lots of people. This is still considered a small-scale operation, you know. I think there's only… six of us going?" He didn't like how that had turned into a question. Hanabi smiled nervously and tried to hide that. "It's not that many. Yukina-san will stay behind in the village, for sure, and she's more than capable. Plus, you're forgetting what Amegakure is. It's made up of the ninja who were strong enough to survive the war and villages' destruction. Lots of chuunin, and jounin, and even an ex-Kage. The village can defend itself if need be."

"I still don't like that."

"Would you like it better if we never got Hinata and the other Akatsuki-nin back?" she asked quietly. Neji shook his head, eyes downcast. "Then, good. This will be a quick mission. It's just a few days' travel there, sneak in, spring them, and then run like hell back."

Neji twitched involuntarily. "You _know_ that was Pein-sama's last order during the war," he accused sourly.

"Yeah, I know." She grinned at him and elbowed him in the side. "Is my poor nii-san carrying around one too many ghosts?"

"Probably."

-.-.-

Why was it that whenever he found some spare time to himself to work on his art, someone inevitably interrupted him? True, this was the first time it was Tomozou, but Sasori still wasn't feeling very happy with the disruption. He had been _so close_ to figuring out that rotting jutsu placed on the monsters, too! Think of how many more bodies he could use if he figured that out; one step from figuring out its mechanics would be to reverse it, which meant he could use corpses several days--possibly even weeks!--old in his puppetry.

"Touch that one and you'll lose the finger," he said without turning around. His newest puppet was the one closest to the door. Undoubtedly, Tomozou would be messing with that one first.

Luckily, the boy must've heeded his warning, for he didn't hear any sudden screams of pain. Sasori never was one to make idle threats, but it was true that many of his puppets wouldn't be so harmful if touched. That new one, however, _would_ take the finger off. It had been made from the Suna kunoichi he'd fought, the one with the acid skin. Its potency had been significantly reduced during the transformation into a puppet, but it was still strong enough to dissolve tissue and even bone with ease.

Though it _would_ have been funny if Tomozou had decided to touch it.

"It--she--looks familiar," Tomozou remarked casually, sidling up beside Sasori. "What are you working on now?" he asked without waiting for a response. The redhead glared at him, but was ignored. The boy just smiled innocently and looked at the shapeless mass of black on the work table.

"The monstrosities that are attacking at night. I'm trying to figure out what they are," he replied tersely, bending the scalpel in his hands to stop himself from doing the same to Tomozou's hand when he reached out to touch it. "Don't touch."

"I'll lose my finger?" he asked in obvious amusement.

"More than that. What do you want?" he snapped--both his words and the scalpel. Tomozou noticed and shrunk back accordingly.

"What did you do to Hitomi-san?" Good. He was no longer mincing words. Sasori reactivated the stasis jutsu around the black mass as he left the table, tossing the broken tool in the trash. It seemed every time he worked on that monster's remains, it rotted even more. Soon, he'd have nothing but liquefied, decayed whatever-it-was to work with. He was still unsure about what it was, though he had ruled out flesh, both human and animal, plant, and chakra--which left very little for him to work with.

"I only fixed my earlier mistake. She'll be fine from now on, provided she thinks before she acts. There will be nothing left but scarring." He rummaged around in one of the boxes he used to store his poisons--when not sealed away in scrolls, of course--until he took out the two vials he needed.

"Was it a problem with her back?" Sasori grunted in reply to the boy's question. Wouldn't it be obvious that that was her problem? Though he had to admit, he was surprised that the little girl had gathered up the courage to tell him about it. Tomozou tilted his head to the side and asked, "What happened to it?"

So much for her telling him; it was just his annoying habit of figuring things out on his own.

"Ask her."

"But you were there, weren't you?"

"Yes."

"Who else was?"

"Myself, Hitomi, Seishirou, Neji, and the boy who died. Ryo, was that his name?" Sasori pretended to think, though he remembered Ryo perfectly. That kid had been just as annoying as any of the others, with the same perception that Tomozou possessed. The thing that made Ryo stand out, however, was his ability to correctly act upon that perception. For the first time, Sasori was thankful that Tomozou was more of a sneaky kid than an active one. "Ask one of the others."

Tomozou huffed and looked away. He knew he couldn't get any information out of any of the others any time soon--or at all, really. "So… she got hurt again?"

"It was her own fault."

"What happened?"

"She was learning some jutsu, and it overtaxed her. That's all I know," Sasori said. It was only a half-lie. Deciding to change the subject, the puppeteer turned to the boy with a wicked smile. "You'll get hell for this, I hope you know."

"Wh-Why?" Tomozou backed up, eyeing the vials of poison in his hand with obvious distrust.

"If you're asking _me_ what happened, it means you haven't seen her yet. She's going to take this as high treason. That'll automatically get Seishirou and Neji on you as well, and no telling who else will chew you up and spit you out for neglecting a poor, injured girl in her time of need." Sasori was satisfied to see that Tomozou clearly hadn't thought about all of the repercussions of his avoidance. "Regardless of whatever spat you two were having prior to this incident--or maybe because of it--she was probably expecting you to rush to her and declare your undying love for her or something equally nonsensical."

Scarlet faced, pressed up against the wall, and slowly edging back towards the door, Tomozou shook his head. "N-No. She wouldn't expect that, no way. Sh-She still hates me and she likes _you_ anyway."

"You've seen how that girl acts. If it's male with a beating heart, she's all over it. She's just unusually attached to you and I because we've been with her for a longer period of time than anyone else in Ame." Now losing interest, Sasori turned back to the task at hand. The puppet of Haya needed more weapons. Sure, the acid skin was nice, but he knew better than to rely on any single thing, especially in puppetry. She was a complete puppet now, but he hadn't started the long, never-ending process of adding weapons to her body. It would be a good start to add a few poisoned senbon, though, he decided.

"What about S-Seishirou? She's known him her whole life--"

"But they still see each other as siblings. That may change, given time, true. Hitomi still doesn't know the truth, however--don't forget that." Holding the glass vials up to the light, Sasori wondered which poison to start with. "While she admittedly does hold me in rather high esteem, I think she's moved on from me, and on to _you_. Also, I've already seen her after this. You haven't. Furthermore--"

Tomozou was out of the door before he could finish. Sasori smiled to himself, pleased. Served the brat right, interrupting him.

Now he only had to finish modifying Haya and then continue identifying that monstrosity. He decided to work on the puppet, since he already had most of the tools out that he needed, and it was guaranteed to get some results. He hated working towards the unknown, and anything dealing with that black creature was definitely classified as such.

Haya was turning out to be rather stubborn, even after her death. It was mostly her skin that was the problem: it had taken the most time during the conversion of human to puppet, since he couldn't outright touch her without losing the hand (again). Even if the acid's strength had decreased, he still had to be irritatingly careful.

_It will be worth it,_ he told himself repeatedly. _If I can't touch her, neither can my enemies…_ The idea of a puppet that literally no one could touch was too appealing to pass up, regardless of the problems along the way. "It will be worth it," he murmured, holding her hand up with chakra strings so that he could unscrew the finger joints.

-.-.-

Hitomi polished off her second bowl and decided she was full enough. Her stomach already felt rebelliously queasy, so, though she could have eaten more, she gave up. She'd last until morning, at any rate. She set her bowl and chopsticks on the table near her bed, and politely turned back to her brother. He, still leaning on the foot of her bed, stared back at her with his ringed eyes.

"Feeling better now?" Seishirou asked, offering her a warm smile.

"Yes, thank you," she responded. She was still sore, yes, but at least she was slightly full and more or less calm after her talk with her father.

"Need anything else?" he asked, ever helpful.

"Nothing comes to mind," she lied with a tiny smile. Actually, right then, she wanted nothing more than a warm bath, sleep, and maybe a hug from Sasori. True, she knew better than to actually ask for such a thing, but maybe, some day in the future… "Maybe… May I have a hug?" If not from Sasori, then Seishirou would do.

"Of course!" Hitomi sighed into his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her. A hug had been exactly what she'd needed. It was warm and comforting and showed that she still had support, even after such a blunder. It was reassuring.

What wasn't reassuring was when the door burst open and Tomozou stormed in. He spared Seishirou one look and said, like a voice issuing a command, "Yukina-chan wants to see you."

Hitomi bristled, but fully expected Seishirou to stay with her. She underestimated a young boy's crush, however, and he was out of the door with nothing more than a hasty goodbye and kiss. She was left alone with Tomozou, something she never wanted to be again. Hitomi fixed him with one of her best glares and ordered, "Get out."

He was not one to be intimidated, however. Acting like he hadn't even heard her, Tomozou turned and shut the door behind him, walked over, and sat on the side of her bed. It was just out of arm's reach, otherwise she would have pushed him off. "What happened?" he asked. No sympathy, no well wishes, no apology.

"Get out!" Now that he was actually _there_, she wanted him out. He wasn't acting in the least worried about her; he was probably just there to satisfy his own curiosity. That had her madder than if he had ignored her for another day. "Get out of my room!"

"Aren't you going to tell me what happened?" he repeated.

"No! Now get out!" She threw the pillow at his head. He smoothly ducked under it, of course, but he didn't dodge the rice bowl she threw immediately afterward.

"Are you crazy or something?! I'm here, aren't I? Why are you telling me to get out?!" Tomozou ducked down behind the foot of her bed for cover as she cast about for something else to throw at him. Luckily for him, there was nothing.

"Because I want you out of here! I did not ask to see you! I do not want you here!" she lied, still glowering at him. He peeked up over the edge, glaring back. He did not look in the least repentant. "Get out!"

He must have sensed either her lie or lack of ammo, for he didn't move. Hitomi clenched her fists in the blankets and tried not to shout. "Tell me what happened," said the cyan eyes at the foot of her bed.

"I got hurt. It was my own fault."

"How?"

"I was learning a new technique and I collapsed because of chakra exhaustion." There. The truth, mostly. Hitomi looked away and gave up on her glaring war in the process; she couldn't win against him. Maybe it was because he was alone so much, but he was certainly a good glarer.

"No, not that. I know that much." The fact that he knew and _still_ hadn't been to see her--how frustrating! Hitomi was about to do something she'd most likely regret later when he spoke again. "How did you get hurt initially? What happened to your back?"

She could feel herself go pale, and suddenly, the room seemed very, very cold. Of all the things he could have done or said, that was probably the worst. Hitomi couldn't tell him what had happened, what she had done…! "…Get out," she said in a low voice.

"I know it had to do with the Bijuu, and I'm guessing that Ryo kid as well." Just hearing his name tossed out so casually hurt. They did not speak of Ryo--that was the unspoken agreement. "They killed him, right? And they attacked you?"

"Don't ask that. Go away, g-get out."

"I've seen some of the scars. How badly were you hurt?" Tomozou gathered up his courage and stood up at the foot of the bed. He opened his mouth to ask more, but closed it a moment later; instead, he was obviously thinking. Hitomi shifted, trying to get into a position where she could move if need be. "What happened to you two? Why was Seishirou not injured?"

_He was_, she wanted to say, but her mouth stayed resolutely closed and it felt like her throat had closed up. _He received a broken leg. He was limping for weeks… He was still limping a bit when we met you_, she wanted to tell him.

"Why was Sasori the one to fix you? He's not a medic-nin and can't heal broken bones. What happened to your back?"

_I broke my back. I snapped my spine in two places and Sasori had to replace it. He fixed me. I would be good as dead without him_, she thought as she looked down at her lap. Why did he have to ask? More importantly, why couldn't she tell him? She should be able to just scream all of his pain at him and he'd leave, but she couldn't. Was it the fact that she was still scared? Or the fact that she didn't want to tell him how she was the one to--

"What happened to Ryo?"

"I killed him! I killed Ryo, okay? I stood over him with a kunai and--and--he is _dead_ because of me!"

-.-.-

The black monstrosities clambered out of the shadows, looking around for any people in the area. There were none. That wasn't good; they needed people. One of the larger ones, a thin creature with abnormally long and skinny legs, took charge since it had been one of the first to wake up. Without speaking, it gestured to the others that were appearing, and stamped off towards Ame.

Ame had people. They needed people. For people had bodies, bodies that were living and had skin and bones and flesh and blood. Bodies that didn't rot once the sun came up if they didn't get back to the shadows fast enough.

There was a loud, frightened squawk, and a massive white bird erupted out of the foliage near them. It speared two of the smaller creatures with its beak and stepped on another, pushing it down into the mud. The tallest one among them jumped forward and stabbed viciously at it with its pointed arms, getting it through the wing and neck. Still, the bird fought back, making enough noise to draw more creatures to the scene.

"Stop it, right now!"

All of the creatures froze when they heard the voice of their creator. The bird staggered away from them, bleeding and gasping.

"What are you doing?! For starters--that is a _bird_, and an endangered species. It will make people even more irate if they find its carcass around here."

"They won't find it," replied the large one, gesturing with its pointed arms. "It has wings! We need wings!"

"Is that why you've been killing people? To create something?" That wasn't good. The creator's voice was shaking. Several of the lesser creatures shrank back. Humans were emotional bodies, and they tended to get scary when their voices changed.

"We need wings!" the large one repeated, and a couple small ones echoed the cry. "Wings! Wings to fly with!" The bird finally collapsed, just a few steps from where it had been attacked. It gave a weak, dying cry.

"You need to stop. Stealing organs, killing people--I told you to merely keep the Ame-nin inside at night. Not hunt them down for parts!"

"We need bodies. We can fight better with bodies. We can become better with human bodies."

"Stop it, all of you. You're forbidden from killing anyone else. And for god's sake--leave that bird alone!" The smaller creatures skittered away from the bird's corpse.

The largest one looked at the creator with hollow eyes and a closed mouth.

Another pair of eyes were on the creator, bright, ice green eyes wide with shock. They belonged to Aoko, and they were currently taking in every single detail of the scene at hand. She might have gotten away with it, too, if she hadn't accidentally snapped a twig when she got up to move.

Instantly, the black creatures were all over her, stabbing, biting, trying to pull her down to the ground. She gave a shriek and fought back savagely, but she was unused to such numbers focused on her. She couldn't keep them at bay, and gradually, her attacks got weaker and weaker.

"Stop it! Leave her be!" the creator shouted, panicked. Ice green eyes looked up, half hopeful, half desperate. The monsters parted from around her as their creator came forward, pulling her upright rather roughly. Scratches and gashes covered her body, but she was still breathing. With medical attention, she'd be fine. Angrily, the creator turned back towards them. "I told you not to kill anyone else, and what do you do? You tried to kill another right in front of me!"

"They're… not supposed to be killing?" Aoko asked, voice weak, confused. "What are these things? Why did you make them?"

"They're trying to make human bodies for themselves. That's why they're taking organs from carcasses. And that's why the damned stupid things want those wings!"

"We want wings so we may fly! We want bodies so we can fight better! Isn't that what creator wants?" the monstrosities chorused, shifting nervously. The tallest one stood at the front of them, swinging its points at its sides.

"Shut up!" the creator shouted at them. They obediently fell silent.

Aoko, looking stricken, whispered, "No one's talking. Those things are as silent as always."

Just as the creator looked towards her, surprised, shocked, already denying the charge of the voices only he heard, the tallest monster stepped forward and thrust its pointed arm through his neck. Aoko tried to jump back out of the way, but it caught her with the flat side of its other arm, swinging her back into the throng of monsters waiting for her. This time, she was too weak to fight back at all, and she could only scream desperately as she was literally torn apart. She was dead before the creator fell from his own creation's hands.

"Take them back to the other bodies! We will use them. And the wings!" the largest commanded, taking charge. The creator might've been the creator, but this one had always been the master. Black, blank eyes turned downward to where the creator lay. "I told you to get to safety before sunset," it told him.

The creator didn't reply. Hachi's lifeless eyes just stared up at his last, greatest creation, blood dripping from his open mouth to the mud below.

-.-.-

Yukina looked up and smiled warmly when she saw Seishirou walking over to her. They were on the tallest floor of the tower, and she was leaning on the windowsill before her, looking out into the rainy night. Seishirou wordlessly stood beside her, peering out into the night as well.

"I've heard Hitomi-chan's awake now, and eating. That's good," she remarked.

"Y-Yeah." She tried not to giggle at his hesitant reply. Was he this shy around other people? She heard Sasori and Kakuzu complain almost nonstop about how the boys got into so much trouble, but she couldn't picture Seishirou being anything but this quiet, skittish boy.

"It's too late tonight, of course--unless you want a midnight snack together--"

"What?" Judging on his blank expression, she gathered that Tomozou hadn't told him about her offer.

She sighed, ran a hand through her bangs, and tried again. "Tomozou-kun was _supposed_ to tell you that I had offered to take you out to lunch, you know, so we could have a talk." He suddenly looked a lot redder. She pretended not to notice. "So unless you want a midnight snack with me later, I suppose I'll get to treat you tomorrow, okay?"

From out in the rain, a long, keening call drifted to them. Both Yukina and Seishirou looked up at the noise. It sounded like an animal dying. She winced in sympathy, having been around dead or dying animals before; hopefully it hadn't been in too much pain… Then again, night had already fallen, so it was probably the work of those monsters.

"…I don't see them," Seishirou said quietly, leaning out the window. Yukina leaned out beside him, looking down. Ame's streets were empty. Just puddles, mud and stone. No monsters, for the first time in months. "Do they usually come out at this time?"

"Earlier, even. I wonder why… Do you think they're gone?" Yukina asked hopefully, though she knew it couldn't be true. There was no reason for them to have gone. They didn't even run when the Akatsuki went after them…

"Maybe." He didn't sound convinced of it, either. She smiled self-depreciatingly; she couldn't even console kids. True, Seishirou was far from worrying--he didn't even sound overly concerned--but she should at least act like the adult in this situation… even if she was only a couple years older than he was. "What if--"

A scream was suddenly heard, sharp even through the rain. Yukina went cold. _Th-That sounded too much like--_

"That was a human, wasn't it? Female?" Seishirou asked, leaning impossibly far out the window. He listened hard, but no more sounds were heard. He paused for a moment longer, and then jumped up onto the sill. Yukina instinctively put out a hand to stop him.

"Th-That was A-Aoko-chan's voice," she said, her shaking voice at odds with her body.

"Come on, then!" Seishirou grabbed her arm and pulled her up onto the windowsill. And then, he jumped.

Yukina felt the air rush out of her lungs in an involuntary gasp and barely had enough time to push some chakra into her legs to cushion the fall before the ground was there. No black creatures came running out to meet them. The kunoichi sprang into a sprint before Seishirou could fully recover. Now she wasn't the one being pulled out windows; she was in charge. If that was Aoko, then it was _her_ friend they needed to save.

"Go back to the tower!" she shouted halfheartedly over her shoulder.

"No way!" he yelled back. In a way, she was glad. It was true that there were no monsters out, but _something_ had to have attacked Aoko. She felt safer knowing Seishirou had her back.

They reached the edge of the Ame-forest border without any more sounds, screams or otherwise. They didn't see any black things, either, so she was almost convinced that it was some sort of accident, or a rogue ninja, so the monsters _were_ really gone--and then, out of the bushes, a veritable mass of them burst. Yukina skidded to a stop just in front of them, narrowly avoiding tumbling over the front most ones. She placed a hand on the nearest one's head, using her forward momentum to hop over its back and deliver a kick to the face of the one behind it.

"_Katon: Gokakyuu no jutsu!_" Yukina blinked in surprise as a rush of flames shot past her, roasting two of the nearer things. Normally, _she_ was the one using fire jutsu, so seeing someone else use one was a bit of a shock.

One of the creatures' pointed hands grazed her leg, and that jarred her back to reality. Mimicking him, she shouted, "_Katon: Gokakyuu no jutsu!_" Yukina was slightly proud to see that her fireball was more effective--not to mention larger--than his. Then again, she specialized in fire ninjutsu, so that was only to be expected.

"You know fire techniques?" Seishirou called in surprise.

"Of course! Watch--" Quick as lightning, she performed all of the seals, used to it; this was her second most favorite fire jutsu. "--_Katon: Karyuu Endan no jutsu_!" Yukina took in one last deep breath on the last syllable, and exhaled a jet of fire. Fire wouldn't totally destroy them, but it was sure hard for them to put themselves back together when they weren't much more than ash. The fire incinerated most everything it touched, putting a good chunk of the monsters out of commission.

The downside to that technique was that it only lasted as long as her breath, and severely dried out her throat. She could usually only handle two, and that was with a glass of water in between. Coughing, Yukina ignored the dry air and looked around. Seishirou managed to hack away at one with a kunai enough that it went down for the moment. She threw a barrage of shuriken at it, just to make sure.

"Ao--" Yukina halted, coughing again, "--Aoko-chan!"

There was no response, be it human or otherwise.

"Aoko-san!" Seishirou called helpfully, cupping his hands around his mouth. His voice carried farther, but there was still no answering call. Yukina breathed through her nose, holding a pair of shuriken at the ready, and went farther into the bushes. No sounds, no more monsters, no Aoko. It wasn't comforting.

Then the stench of blood hit her.

Momentarily stunned, she could only look around for its source. She wasn't injured badly enough to bleed enough to warrant the smell, and, looking over her shoulder, she saw that neither was Seishirou. Ice blue eyes scanned the dark, rain-drenched forest. There--at the edge of her vision, something was sprawled out at impossible angles. Yukina ran over to it, only to find that it was the mangled remains of a bird. Granted, a very large bird, but just a bird nonetheless. Its wings had been ripped out of its sockets and its legs were both snapped, and it was lying in a puddle of its own watered-down blood.

Seishirou stumbled up behind her, took one look at the bird, and kept walking. Yukina eventually wrenched her gaze away from the poor animal, and ended up following him. That had been the source of the animal call they'd heard earlier; so _where was Aoko_?

"There's more blood here, but I don't see any bodies…" he told her absently, looking around in the nearby bushes for any corpses.

"They like to drag off the people they--k-kill--for parts," Yukina replied automatically.

"It's okay. Aoko-san isn't dead."

"There--something was dragged through here." The only problem was that there were _two_ drag-trails. Either the monsters had gotten another animal… or they had gotten another person. Yukina set off on a run, following the muddy trails, heart thundering in her ears. Aoko couldn't be dead. She couldn't be. It was someone else who died--_no, that's just as horrible!_ she reprimanded herself. No one died. No one else died because of those things.

Then, they came upon a clearing. Like any good ninja worth her salt, Yukina stopped before entering it; her body reacted before her mind did. The first thing she registered was that they were obviously outnumbered. The second was that the crowd of monsters were all huddled around several shapeless masses on the ground, barely visible between the sea of pointed feet and legs. The smell of blood was even stronger here.

By some unseen signal or command, most of the black creatures sprang forward as a unified wave. Yukina quickly lost track of Seishirou in all of the ensuing chaos. She shoved her fist clean through the chest of one of the thinner monsters and lost a kunai trying to decapitate another. Everywhere she looked there were spikes coming at her, trying to stab her. She tried her damnedest to dodge, but she couldn't get away from all of them, particularly those behind her. The scar on her stomach felt cold as it was grazed more than once; they were going to tear her open again. She knew their goal.

Finally, Yukina snapped and didn't care whether or not she wasted all of her chakra just defending herself from the onslaught of hellions. She had to perform the signs with pauses in between in order to block and it took two tries before she could successfully pull off the jutsu. "_Hou-Houkate no jutsu!_" she gasped out, just as one of the creatures managed to stab her through the shoulder.

Hands glowing red with heat, she turned around and grabbed the monster's head. Its flesh, if it could be called that, sizzled and it instantly reacted, pulling its arm out of her and writhing in silent agony. With her other hand, Yukina slapped another across the face. It went sprawling to the ground and wasn't quick to get back up.

Now, every thing that she touched instantly shied away from her. It didn't take too many incapacitated monsters for them to learn; they formed a wide circle around her, empty eyes staring. Keeping an eye on them, Yukina shouted, "Sei-kun?"

"Over he--" He was rather alarmingly cut off. Yukina slapped, scratched and clawed her way in his direction. All she could see was more and more of the monsters, rushing--to get away from her or to stop her from aiding Seishirou, she didn't know. The silence was deafening. The creatures were noiseless, there was no sound from Seishirou, and all she could hear was her heart banging against her ribcage.

Then, Yukina tripped.

Mud and rainwater splashed up all around her when she hit the ground. She was instantly scrambling back to her feet--that was, until she saw what had hooked her foot. It was an arm. An arm with a very familiar green bracelet on its wrist.

-.-.-

"You… killed him," Tomozou repeated incredulously. He didn't believe it. Sure, the pieces of trauma fit, but he really couldn't see a little girl as a killer. Her personality just wasn't suited to it. Nor did she actually _act_ like that… Though, now that he thought about it, she wasn't shy around death; she didn't act like she was totally unaccustomed to it.

Hitomi nodded miserably, hiding her face in her hands.

Judging it safe enough to come out from behind the edge of the bed, Tomozou perched on the edge of it instead. She didn't throw anything else at him or try to kick him or anything. Safe enough indeed.

Now. What did one say to someone who confessed to their first kill? He set his chin in his hand and thought. His parents and Sasuke had written his first kill off as nothing special. That probably saved him quite a bit distress later on, but it didn't help him here. Nonchalance about death had been beaten into him since day one; Hitomi was a coddled Kiri girl. She had to be handled more delicately.

"I--" she started in a tiny, broken little whisper.

"Shh, I'm thinking," he replied automatically. A shocked--and somewhat frightened--Hitomi immediately shrunk back and shut up.

How did one handle a girl delicately? He sure didn't get many tips on that subject from his father. Come to think of it--_Seishirou is probably the one who treats Hitomi the best_, he thought, but instantly recoiled from it. He couldn't stand to be another servant to her whims like everyone else seemed to be.

In the end, Tomozou decided to try to improvise. If he couldn't draw on examples, then that was all there was left to do. Not leaving his relatively safe spot on the edge of the bed, however, he cleared his throat and caught her eye when she looked up at him. "I don't give a damn."

"What--?"

"It was probably situational, and something tells me I'll never know what really happened to you or Ryo or whatever. I don't think you actually _killed_ him, though. Anyway--" He paused, searching for the right words. Hitomi was not very helpful in that aspect. She just stared at him in shock. "--I don't care if you did or didn't, I guess. You've shown no signs of regularly betraying your comrades and I really don't think you could do the same to me, anyway, if this is your version of some sort of a warning. Also--"

He didn't get the chance to continue, because Hitomi had lunged forward and wrapped her arms so tightly around him it was a wonder he didn't have cracked ribs. Wincing, Tomozou tried to get his arms free (though whether to pry her off or hug her back, even he didn't know), but she had a grip like an iron vice. He had no choice but to sit there and let her cry on his shoulder.

-.-.-

Next Chapter: Yukina deals with Aoko's death as the rest of the cast try to figure out how to stop Hachi's creations now that their creator is dead. Now with one less shinobi, the rescue team departs for the Bijuu. That leaves a heartbroken Yukina, a very skittish Seishirou, Hitomi and Tomozou--who are avoiding each other yet again--and a mess of Ame-nin to try to figure out how to stop the monsters once and for all.

(Author's Apology: Super sorry for the late update! My only defense is that it's long and moving the plot right along. The next chapter should be likewise long and plot-filled. I'm lookin' to finally wrap up this Ame arc. Also, the thank-you picture for 300 reviews has a parody theme! If you'd like to see any parodies (keep in mind that it will be one picture per parody, put together in a comic strip form), drop a suggestion in a review or head on over to darkknightnojutsu dot deviantart dot com!)


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